A Happy Meduim
by sissouthernink1994
Summary: The equation: Symptoms of bipolar disorder PLUS the Lyon family PLUS the Lyon family business EQUALS imbalance. Where is the equation that leads to a happy medium?
1. Chapter 1

A Happy Medium

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any part of Empire.

**Rating:** M

**Warning:** Some language, sexual situations, and bipolar disorder.

**A/N:** I started writing this about three episodes from the season finale and decided to wait to see how things would end so I could fit this in. I hope you enjoy, review and recommend. Thanks.

**Summary:** The equation: Symptoms of bipolar disorder + the Lyon family + the Lyon family business = imbalance. Where is the equation that leads to a happy medium?

Chapter 1

"_**Ahhhhhhh! Help me, help me, help me...Xandri! Pick up the phone! I can't do it, I can't do it! **_(grunting sounds)_** Helpmehelpmeheleme...No, no, no no no no no! Why aren't you picking up the phone?! XANDRI!"**_

Xandri Bishop stood in the lobby of Empire Entertainment wondering where she should go to find out what she needed to know. So she stepped up to the first counter she saw.

"Excuse me, I need to see Mr. Lyon please." The assistant looked her.

"Which Mr. Lyon? We have several here in the company."

"I need to see Lucious Lyon please. It's very important."

"I'm sure it is. Do you have an appointment?"

"No, I don't."

"So he's not expecting you?"

"No, he isn't." Xandri was beginning to feel hopeless.

"Well, you're not on the list so there's no security clearance for you."

"But it's _really_ important that I see him."

"I'm sorry ma'am there's not much I can do."

"Well, can I make an emergency appointment with you to see him?"

"No ma'am; you'll have to call his office for that."

"Thank you." she sighed and whispered in defeat. She turned to leave when she saw him walk in the door and she ran to him.

"Mr. Lyon! Mr. Lyon!" She, he and Cookie were immediately surrounded by security guards. "Mr. Lyon, I need to speak to you!"

"Lucious, I knew you still had groupies but damn this is ridiculous!" Cookie stated. Lucious held up his hands for his guards to let him go.

"I'm alright, I'm alright." He looked at the young woman who was so desperate to speak to him. And he recognized her. "It's Xandri, right?"

"Yes sir, it's me."

"Xandri? What the hell kinda name is that?" Cookie asked.

"When my parents were pregnant with me the doctor told them they were having a boy and they selected the name Alexander. But got me instead. My mother changed my name to Alexandria but she refused to call me Alex or Lexi. My nickname became Xandri."

"Okay..." Cookie replied.

"Fellas, you can let her go." The guards backed off. "I remember you Xandri. It's been a long time but I remember you. What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to you Mr. Lyon; it's about Dre."

"Dre?" Cookie asked. "What business do you have regarding my son?"

"I received a very disturbing voice mail from him about four this morning but I couldn't answer my phone at the time. And I haven't been able to reach him." Lucious and Cookie looked at each other with concern.

"Malcolm, go ahead and give Ms. Bishop security clearance. When you're done could you please bring her up to the conference room?"

"Yes sir." he replied. "Ms. Bishop, this way please." Xandri followed Malcolm over to the desk.

Ten minutes later she stepped off the elevator and she followed him to the conference room.

"Please have a seat Ms. Bishop. Can I get you anything?" Xandri removed her coat and picked a seat.

"Um...water would be nice. Thank you. I'm too nervous to have anything else."

"Sometimes a stiff drink settles the nerves." Cookie suggested. Xandri turned to her.

"It's nice to finally meet you Ms. Lyon. Andre talks about you a lot." Lucious handed her a bottle of water and Cookie took the seat next to her.

"Funny, he hasn't told me a thing about you. And you can call me Cookie."

"So tell us, what's this message you received from my son?" Lucious asked. Xandri took her phone from her purse and played the disturbing message for Dre's parents.

"Oh my God! Lucious did you hear that? What the hell happened?" Cookie asked.

"I don't know. When I was able to check my messages, I called him back but he didn't answer and it didn't go to voice mail. I called several times. It _always_ goes to voice mail when he can't answer and he calls me back. I didn't know where else to turn, so I came here."

"I'm glad you did." Lucious replied.

"How do you know my son?" Cookie asked.

"We met in college. Freshman orientation actually. We ended up in three classes together, studied together. Our attraction was strong and before we knew it we were in a relationship."

"I always thought Rhonda was his college sweetheart." Cookie said. "At least that's what he told me when he wrote to me."

"Well, they ended up together but I was his girlfriend first. We were together a little over two years. I'll never understand what he saw in her. She never understood him like I did. That's a part of what attracted us to each other."

"What do you mean?" Lucious asked.

"His bipolar disorder. A lot of people didn't know how to be around him. But I did."

"And how is that? Are you bipolar too?" was Cookie's question. Lucious glared at his ex-wife.

"No, I'm not but I grew up around it. The disorder skipped around in my family. It skipped my grandfather but got two of his brothers. It skipped my dad but got one of his brothers and a son; my brother Therron. That's why I couldn't answer my phone when Dre called this morning. My brother has had a serious breakdown and it's taken him longer than usual to get back to his reality. This time around someone has had to stay with him at night to give my parents a break and last night was my turn. He's developed a form of PTSD and claims that the sound of cell phones bothers him and won't let him sleep. My phone was turned off and I couldn't answer it until I left the house."

"You knew my son was bipolar?" Lucious asked. Xandri nodded. "How? He wasn't officially diagnosed until his junior year."

"Yes, from the moment we first met; I just knew. It was a look, something in his eyes. It was the same look my brother always had. Some days hopeful and happy, other days sad and sorry. The symptoms are always there but no one ever really connects the dots until something big happens. I didn't want to push him into a diagnosis by mentioning the possibilities until he was ready for it. By the time he saw a doctor, we were no longer together." Lucious was deep in thought.

"If you two were so in love, how in the hell did he end up with Rhonda?" asked Cookie. Xandri sighed.

"The summer after our sophomore year I was working in an internship, he decided that we needed some time apart. Which I wasn't totally against; it was ok. We kept in touch but not as much as we could have. That next fall right as school was starting she was there, hanging around and I wasn't quite sure what was going on. We talked; he told me that he had met someone who turned his heart. And he wanted to be with her. He felt that he needed her so I accepted that." Cookie gave her a strange look.

"Why would you let him go?"

"We had an agreement that we would never cheat on each other, that we would be open and honest if our feelings changed. He was open and honest with me so I had to respect and accept his decision to be with Rhonda. What I couldn't accept was the fact that she couldn't take care of him like I could."

"I don't understand."

"I'm sure she had good intentions at the time and probably still does. I just don't think she was ever capable. They were a couple but every single time he second guessed himself or when things were too hard to handle, _he always came to me_. Every single time. Sometimes his roommates would call me, beg me even, to come help. We'd talk, he'd feel better and would be back on track for a while."

"What's a while?" Lucious wondered.

"Sometimes a few weeks, usually three to four months. It really depended on what was going on. And it hasn't stopped. After all this time, he still calls, still comes to see me."

"Are you sleeping with my son?" Cookie asked.

"Cookie!" Lucious exclaimed. "Why would you ask her that?"

"What? A mother needs to know these things."

"No, we're not sleeping together Cookie. And it would be _**so**_ easy for us to fall into that. So easy. As weak and vulnerable as we have been to each other and with each other, I've never crossed that line. No matter how bad we both wanted or needed it, I've _always_ respected his wedding vows, even when he hasn't."

Andre's parents were silent, thinking about Xandri's words. Lucious was thinking about Rhonda's role in his son's life. If she couldn't keep him on his meds, what was she doing? How was she keeping him from loosing it? Andre couldn't be the next CEO of Empire Entertainment if he couldn't keep his wits about him. That worried Lucious. Cookie was trying to read Xandri's body language, trying to get a better feel of her. She needed to know more.

"Xandri, I have tons and tons of questions for you girl; I don't even know where to start."

"Come on now Cookie."

"What?"

"Oh I don't mind Mr. Lyon. If it was my son I'd want to know everything I could about his well-being."

"See?" Cookie replied, rolling her eyes at Lucious. "So...you're a Wharton grad too?"

"Yes. I have a Management degree and double MBA in Entrepreneurial Management and Marketing. I also have a culinary degree."

"And what do you do with those?"

"I own and manage three restaurants, two spas, a printing business and an advertising agency."

"You have more degrees that my daughter-in-law. And you have your own. I like that about you."

"I'm not filthy rich by any standards but I'm comfortable. My employees are comfortable and taken care of."

"Hmmm mmm..." Cookie mused aloud. "You're a pretty girl too. I can see why my son was attracted to you. I wonder what made him change his mind. The only physical attributes you and Rhonda have in common is that you're both women."

"He never told me and I didn't ask."

"Hmm."

"I don't think it was entirely physical. If she caught him on a high energy mania day it could have been anything." This peaked Lucious's curiosity.

"Like what? A wild sex party?"

"Well, yeah."

"Surely not." he replied, scoffing at the idea.

"Rhonda has a highly addictive personality. She probably sought him out like other girls looking for a rich man or groupies trying to get it in at the club with the athletes. She wants what she wants and once she has it she does _anything_ she can to keep it on the level she has it. And depending on where his mood is swung, Andre can be that way too."

"What could they be addicted to?" Lucious asked. This was giving him some insight into their marriage.

"Power, success, money, each other. Highly addictive people are more susceptible to addictions. And it's anything from drugs to porn, exercise, being a workaholic."

"Damn, that's the two of them. If they didn't have to sleep or eat they would be here 24/7."

"And there's no telling what kind of sexual antics they get into." Cookie shuddered at that thought. "Eww, you know what now that I think about it I really don't want to think about it."

"Their addictive personalities have them spending excessive time on things or people not because they want to but because they feel they have to. I don't know if they could get away from each other even if they tried."

"Girl, how do you _know_ all this? Do you have a degree in this too?"

"No but it feels like it. A few years ago I took a full bipolar disorder course to help my parents deal with Therron."

"The way I see it, my son is as addicted to his wife as he is to _you_." Lucious said. "It's like he needs both of you to function. They swing from the chandeliers and you keep him from crashing into the floor or fix him if he falls. Andre can't live that way. He has to chose one."

"If his wife can't keep him together, how can we?"

"I would suggest you convince him to stay on his medicine, maybe change doctors. Checking himself into an institution wouldn't be a bad idea either. I can highly recommend the one my family has used. They will take great care of him. Make sure he speaks with the psychotherapist. And keeps his appointments, no matter _what_ his work schedule is. I can't stress that enough. Keeping things bottled up ruins the chemical balance. And stress makes it worse."

"Keeping that stress level low is gonna be difficult." Cookie said. "We've got a lot going on here."

"I know. There is so much stuff that Andre tells me but if he could just talk to the people who _really_ need to hear it most, it would help him tremendously. And I'm constantly encouraging him to to that; he says he will but I can tell that he doesn't."

"You know about my ALS?" Lucious asked. Xandri nodded her head.

"He's stressed about losing you, as any child would their parent. He's also afraid of not pleasing you. Knowing that you need someone to be CEO when you're gone has been fueling him these last few months. Andre wants to impress you Mr. Lyon. He _desperately_ wants to show you that he can do it, that you can depend on him. He's the oldest and he wants you to know everything will be fine in his capable hands."

"But will it stay that way? He might be capable today and tomorrow but what about a year from now? Or ten years from now? If any _little_ thing can set him off or distract him, how can I trust _**my**_ legacy to him?" Lucious asked. Xandri sighed because she asked the same questions.

"It can be done. Andre will have to have a certain group of people that can carry on when he can't. I have certain things and people put in place to handle business when I'm out of town, sick, or in the event something tragic happens. Everyone doesn't need to know his secret, but does who do know will _**have**_ to be people he can undoubtedly trust and won't be hungry for his position. That would seem like betrayal when he comes back to his position."

"What's the number to that facility? I mean maybe he should check in asap." Cookie asked.

"Here it is." Xandri wrote the number down for them. "It's the same one that has taken care of my uncles and brother. But I would wait until the IPO is done. Taking that away from him could do serious damage. Everything he's doing is for that moment. Please don't take that moment from him."

"I don't plan to. He is a very integral part of everything goi-" Before Lucious could finish his sentence the door to the conference room flew open and Rhonda stormed in. She dropped her purse on the table, walked straight over to the Xandri and raised her hand to slap her.

"You home wrecking **bitch**!" Xandri stood up to face her but managed to not get slapped. "What in the hell are you doing here?!"

"I came up here to see Andre's parents."

"Are you planning to get into the entertainment business or planning to do business with Empire?"

"No, of course not."

"Then you have no business being here."

"I came up here to make sure Andre was all right."

"And why is my husband's well-being any of _**your**_ business?"

"He's your husband; you tell me. He called **me** at four this morning leaving **me** a voice mail asking for **me** to pick up the phone, desperately asking **me** for help. At four a.m. he should have been in bed next to you right? Maybe he wasn't at home. OR maybe _you_ weren't at home? At any rate, he called **me**, he needed **me**. And when I called him back he didn't answer and the voice mail didn't pick up so I came here. You're his wife, you tell me what's going on." Rhonda stepped back a second and looked Xandri up and down.

"Hmm mmm. I thought that was your number. You just wouldn't stop calling."

"Of course not! I wanted to...wait..._**you're**_ the reason the phone didn't to go voice mail." Lucious and Cookie looked at each other. "What in the _hell_ did you do to his phone Rhonda?"

"It's none of your damn business what I did to his phone. I did what I had to do to keep you from talking to my husband."

"Well _**Rhonda**_, if you were the wife Andre _**needed**_ you to be then he wouldn't need to call me!" Xandri stated as she got in Rhonda's face.

"I do everything I'm supposed to do as his wife!"

"That's bullshit and you know it! Being a wife means more than sex. And being a wife to _Andre_ means keeping him on his medication. Making sure he talk to the therapist, making-"

"**I** make sure he does what he needs to do."

"Then here's one to put on your to-do list, as soon as this IPO is done you need to get Andre to a mental health facility."

"He's **fine.**"

"According to the voice mail he left me this morning, he is **NOT** fine Rhonda. Not by a long shot. A wife who was paying attention to her husband would know that."

"Did you hear what you just said? He's _my_ husband, not _yours_. _**I'll**_ do what's best for him. You just make sure you stay away."

"Or what?" Rhonda stared at her.

"Or nothing. **You** just stay away." Rhonda grabbed her purse and headed toward her office.

Cookie and Lucious looked at each other again. Then she looked at Xandri.

"Are you sure you and my son aren't sleeping together? No woman **I** know gets that upset over her man unless there is a chick on the side."

"I promise Andre and I are not together. We're just friends. That was smoke and mirrors. She's not as upset as you think she is. Rhonda is more scared of me than anything. She has no clue how much I know. Andre doesn't just tell me a lot; he tells me **everything**. I know more about their marriage than they do. I know who has done what for what reason- business and/or pleasure- and it's not pretty."

"I'm scared to ask but I will. What are you talking about?" Lucious asked.

"I'll just say this, some days it's hard to tell who's the pimp and who's the whore." Cookie and Lucious both frowned. "That's another reason why I question Rhonda's concern for him even more. She didn't even hear what I wanted to say but it's gonna come back to bite her. I know it is."

"I knew there was a reason I never really liked her. And now I know why." Lucious said.

"So what can we do?"

"My best suggestion is to get him to a facility as soon as the IPO is done."

"We'll give it some serious thought." Lucious said. "Thank you for coming to us with your concerns. And thank you for being such a caring friend to him."

"I just want Andre to get the help he needs."

"Let me walk you out." Xandri followed Cookie out of the conference room.

Lucious and Cookie called the facility Xandri told them about and the hospital said they would send them an information packet overnight. Lucious was still skeptical of Andre's diagnosis, even though he had been living with the disorder for a number of years. Deep down he agreed that something had to be done. He would love to leave Empire in Andre's hands but he just didn't know. Cookie just wanted her son to be healthy. A few days later they would find out how just how beneficial that conversation and phone call were.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't have any affiliation with any name brand medications mentioned. For everything else see intro.

**Warning:** See intro

Chapter 2

Lucious was pacing nervously because he hadn't seen Andre yet that morning and there was a very important presentation that he was supposed to make. He needed everything to be just right because it was one of the last important steps for the IPO.

"Untwist your panties." Cookie said. "He's probably making some last minute changes. You know he's a perfectionist when it comes to his presentations. Especially now."

"But he should have been in here to set things up." Lucious got up to head to Andre's office.

"Sit down, sit down. I'll go check on him." Cookie rolled her eyes at her ex-husband and headed toward her son's office. As she arrived she saw his assistant Lisa frantically knocking on the door.

"Mr. Lyon? Mr. Lyon?"

"Lisa is my son in?"

"Yes, but I can't get him to open the door. I'm trying to make sure everything is ready for the presentation but he won't open the door or answer the phone." Panic hit Cookie's stomach.

"Let me try." She began to knock on the door. "Andre? Andre, it's me can you unlock the door?" There was silence on the other side. "Are you sure he's in there?"

"Yes ma'am. He just went it about ten minutes ago."

"Ok...think Cookie think..." She whispered to herself and began scrolling through her phone. "I need you to call Becky and tell her we need Lucious over here now. Then call Malcolm and tell him we need a way to get into Andre's office."

"Yes ma'am." Cookie send a text to Jamal and Hakeem telling them that she needed them to drop whatever they were doing and to rush to Andre's office. She then placed a call to Rhonda hoping to catch her before the photo shoot got too far along but there was no answer.

"Come one Rhonda, pick up, pick up." Malcolm and Lucious arrived at the same time.

"Cookie what's going on? Where's Andre?"

"Lisa says he's locked himself in his office and won't answer."

"I have a key to get in." Malcolm said and knocked on the door. "Andre, it's Malcolm. I have a key and I'm unlocking the door at your mother's request, alright?" Still silence.

"You sure he's in there?" asked Lucious.

"Lisa said he went in there ten minutes ago and she's been trying to help get things set up for the presentation." Malcolm cautiously unlocked the door and called Andre's name. They all carefully walked in.

"Andre?"

"What are you doing in here?!" Andre yelled. He was kneeling on the floor of his office in front of his couch. His face was full of pain and distraught. He was rocking back and forth like a child having a temper tantrum. "I locked that damn door for a reason."

"You're weren't answering and we're trying to make sure you're ready for the presentation. Honey are you feeling ok?" replied Cookie.

"No, but I will be I just fine. I just need some damn peace and quiet!"

"Bullshit," Lucious said. "Peace and quiet ain't gonna fix this. Boy what is wrong with you?! **GET UP!**" Andre began to grunt like an angry animal while rocking back and forth.

"Lucious stop it! Can't you see something's wrong?" Cookie kneeled in front of Andre and tried to talk to him. "Andre, listen to me baby, where is your medication? Did you take it this morning?"

"I don't need that shit. I'm fine."

"Baby, you are not fine. Now where are your meds?"

"I _**said **_I'm **not** taking them."

"Oh my god, Lucious what are we gonna' do?"

"This is ridiculous. Lisa!" The assistant came to the office. "Tim, Joseph and Samantha worked on this with him?"

"Yes sir."

"Find them, tell them to meet me in the conference room with the presentation immediately. Somebody get Rhonda on the phone, right now."

"**NO!** It's my presentation. _I'll_ do it!"

"Not until you get yourself together. And that's not gonna be today." Lucious turned to leave.

"Lucious! You can't leave him here by himself."

"He's not by himself, you're here and the sooner you get Rhonda on the phone the better. I gotta this presentation together." And he left. Cookie took her phone out and placed another call to Rhonda's phone. Still no answer.

"Why is this girl not answering her phone? What is her assistant's name?" she asked Malcolm.

"Kelly."

"Call her and see if you can get a hold of Rhonda. Lisa?" Lisa came to the office door again. "Could you please keep people away from Andre's office? I don't care how important they say it is, take messages for everything. We need to keep this here."

"Yes ma'am." Cookie turned back to her son, trying to find out more about his medicine.

"Andre, listen to me baby. I need to know where you keep your medicine. You need to take something."

"I don't need it. I'm **fine**."

"No you're not! Now your daddy might not believe something is wrong but I do. I know. Help me help you Andre. Please?" Malcolm tipped his head back in.

"I can't get either one of them on the phone. What now?"

"Keep trying. Hakeem and Jamal are on their way. When the security was upgraded did you guys get medical records on any of the employees?"

"Allergic reactions only, everything else was optional."

"Let me guess, Andre didn't volunteer."

"No he didn't." Cookie sighed.

"Andre honey talk to me. Help me help you." Andre was now sitting with his knees under his chin, rocking back and forth grunting and moaning as if he was in pain. Jamal ran into the office.

"Mom, got your text, what's wrong?"

"Hey sweetie, your brother's having an episode and he hasn't taken his meds. Do you know anything about them?"

"Nothing specific. He has some in his desk somewhere. I saw him take them once. Where's Rhonda?"

"On a shoot and not answering her damn phone. Start looking in his desk and see what you can find. Where's Hakeem?"

"He said he was on the way. He wasn't far from here." Jamal sat at Andre's desk and began looking through the drawers.

"Malcolm do you even have a doctor's name on file for Andre?"

"No ma'am."

"Oh Andre!" Cookie was trying to hold in her frustration so things wouldn't be worse. She tried Rhonda's phone once again and left her a message. Hakeem came in as she hung up.

"I got your message. What's going...on...?" he said as he saw his oldest brother sitting on the floor ricking back and forth. "Dre?" His brother looked up at him and seemed to be more enraged.

"Come in Hakeem. Do you have any info about Andre's medication or doctor?"

"No, shouldn't his wife have all that?"

"Yeah but we can't get her on the phone. If we could find a doctor's name we could make a call."

"Wouldn't he have the number in his phone?"

"His phone. Jamal do you see his phone?" Jamal looked under some papers.

"Not here."

"I'll be out here still trying to make contact. If she doesn't answer soon, I'll send someone over to get her." Malcolm stated.

"Thank you Malcolm. Hopefully she find her common sense and call back before then." She headed to some bookshelves. "I'm gonna start looking over here."

"Hey Dre," Hakeem said to his brother as he knelt next to him. "We're trying to help you, I need your phone man. It's not on your desk so I'm gonna check your pockets ok?" He carefully reached into Dre's suit jacket, feeling apprehensive because of the stare he was receiving from his brother. Hakeem had never looked into his brother's eyes like that before. He found the phone in the right inside pocket. "I got it. Ok, you have a code...what's the code Dre? I need to call your doc." Dre just stared at him.

"'Keem try clicking on emergency call and see if it will let you do that." suggested Jamal. "If it does, call Rhonda. Surely she'll answer a call from her husband's phone." Hakeem dialed and put it on speaker.

"It's ringing." This time there was an answer.

"This is Kelly for Rhonda Lyon, may I help you?"

"Kelly this is Hakeem, Andre's brother. I need to speak to Rhonda."

"I'm sorry she's busy on the photo shoot."

"Kelly it's an emergency involving Andre. I need to speak to her."

"I'm sorry she can't be disturbed." Cookie turned around at that statement and Andre seemed to become more agitated.

"Give me that phone Hakeem. Kelly, this is Cookie, Andre's mother. This is **not** a suggestion. Andre is having a medical emergency and we need the name of his doctor right now. If you value your job you will hand this phone to Ronda right now!"

"I'm sorry Ms. Lyon I can't." And Kelly hung up the phone.

"Did that bitch just **hang** up on me? I don't believe this!" Cooked clicked the emergency call icon and dialed the number again. And it went to voice mail. "Oh I'm gonna whip both of their asses when I see them! How dare she hang up on me in an emergency! Damn it we really need to find that doctor's number."

"Let me see if I can figure out the code."

"Aha, I found medicine bottles."

"Good." Cookie said turning to the desk. "What's the doctor's name?"

"From which bottle? I found thirteen empty bottles and one that's half full."

"Oh my god Andre, are you supposed to be taking all these medications?" she asked.

"I told you I'm not taking that shit anymore!" And suddenly Andre yelled as if someone stabbed him, catching Hakeem off guard making him loose his balance and falling backwards. Then he began the primal grunting sound he was making before followed by swinging arms and fists. Jamal ran to them and grabbed Andre's wrists so he wouldn't hurt anyone or himself.

"Let me go Jamal!"

"I can't do that!"

"**I said let. me. GOOOOOO!**"

"Calm down! It's just us." Jamal said.

"Yeah man, we're not trying to hurt you we just wanna help. Let us help man." Andre rolled over on the floor into a fetal position, slamming his fist into the floor and began moaning as if he was in pain.

"Ya'll start working on that lock code. Let me see about these pill bottles." Cookie sat at Andre's desk looking at the bottles that Jamal found. "None of these prescriptions look like they've expired. I'm not sure though and I'm not sure what he's supposed to be taking."

"Maybe start by calling one of the doctors?" Jamal suggested. Cookie started separating the bottles by doctor.

"I just thought of something, we only have ten tries to unlock this phone before it locks permanently." Hakeem said. "We gotta choose wisely." Cookie called the doctor of the first three prescriptions.

"Good morning Dr. Mann's office?"

"Hello, my name is Cookie Lyon, I'm Andre Lyon's mother. We have an emergency regarding Andre is Dr. Mann available?"

"The emergency?"

"He's having an episode and we're not sure what medicine to give him."

"One moment please."

"Thank you." The line when silent.

"Ok, the code isn't his birthday, Rhonda's birthday or their anniversary."

"Speaking of Rhonda..."

"On it." Jamal said as he dialed her number again.

"Mrs. Lyon?"

"Yes, Dr. Mann? Thank you so much for taking my call. We really need your help. We have fourteen pill bottles, three prescribed by you."

"Well, Mrs. Lyon..."

"It's actually Ms. Lyon but you can call me Cookie."

"Cookie, I can't actually give you any particulars on Andre's medication because I'm not authorized to. The only person I can give information to is Rhonda, his wife. That's per Andre's request." Cookie sighed.

"Well, we can't get in touch with her."

"He's also not a full patient at the moment."

"I'm confused. What does that mean?"

"I don't refill prescriptions when my patients ditch their therapy sessions. The medicines are based on the patient's progress and I can't do that if Andre never comes in for evaluation."

"Oh my god, there are four other doctor's names on these bottles. Suppose it's the same situation with them?"

"That could very well be the case. Is there a bottle that has pills in it?"

"Yes, one is half full."

"My guess is, that's the current doctor. Call him or her a call, explain the situation. I'm sure they will be able to help."

"Thank you Dr. Mann."

"I'm sorry I couldn't have been more help to you."

"You helped tremendously." And she hung up the phone.

"The code isn't any of our birthdays. I'm running out of numbers to try." Hakeem said. "It must be a date of extreme importance for him. I just can't figure out which one." Cookie was looking at the half-full pill bottle.

"Graduation date maybe?" Jamal suggested.

"I don't remember that."

"Try 01-25-1998." Hakeem put the numbers in.

"Ha! That worked. What date is that?"

"That's the date she was sent to prison." Jamal replied sullenly. Andre began making sounds like a wounded puppy and Jamal let go of his wrists just in case he was hurting him.

"I didn't know that."

"No, you were a little guy, way too young to remember." Cookie replied.

And before any of them could get in their feelings they all heard Lisa's muffled voice on the other side of the door saying "You can't go in Mr. Turner..."

"What? Of course I can. I came to get Andre for the-" and the door opened to reveal Vernon's face. "What the hell?"

"I tried to stop him Ms. Lyon."

"It's ok Lisa."

"Why is Andre on the floor and not heading to the presentation?"

"One guess." Jamal said.

"So who's doing the presentation?"

"Tim, Joseph and Samantha." Cookie replied. Vernon knelt in front of Andre and looked directly into his eyes.

"Have you called his doctor?"

"She's getting ready to. We didn't know who to call." Hakeem said.

"Do you know anything about his meds Uncle Vernon?" asked Jamal. Vernon shook his head.

"No, not really. I know he and Rhonda keep that pretty tight lipped."

"Well, since we got into his phone check to make sure the doctor's name is the same. Dr. Morell is the name on the half-filled bottle."

"Yep, he's in here." Hakeem dialed it and as it was dialing brought the phone to his mother. After a few rings it picked up.

"Andre?"

"No, this is Cookie Lyon, Andre's mother. Am I speaking with Dr. Morell?"

"Yes it is. How did you get this number? I only give it to my patients and their spouses for emergencies."

"We have Andre's phone and its definitely an emergency. We can't get in touch with Rhonda. My son is having an episode and we're not sure what medicine he should be taking."

"Well, I last prescribed him a mood stabilizer called Depakote, an anti-depressant called Zoloft and his anti-psychotic is Abilify."

"Ok, the Depakote is the only bottle that has pills in it."

"What's going on with Andre?"

"He locked himself in the office but we gained access. He's been rocking back and forth, grunting and moaning like he's in pain. He even yelled like he was being stabbed."

"Any violence?"

"Yes, some. He swung his fists and is beating the floor."

"Ok, you need to give him a dose of the Depakote now it will calm him down. He won't be as agitated or violent. Call the pharmacy and get the other two filled ASAP. He needs to take them as soon as you can get them delivered. And with food."

"Ok."

"And, he needs to see me within the next forty-eight hours. No exceptions. I need to evaluate him. I can't change anything if I don't know what he's going through.."

"Absolutely. He'll be there if I have to bring him myself." Cookie replied. "Let me ask you this, I know I'm not his wife but is it possible for me to have some kind of document or something concerning his condition and treatment? We've been calling Rhonda all morning and I can't stand not being able to help my son."

"Sure I can do that this once since it's an emergency and when he comes in I'll have him adjustment his notification forms."

"Thank you Dr. Morell. You don't know how much I appreciate this." Before hanging up with him Cookie gave him her information and she got his.

Cookie dialed the pharmacy to fill the other two prescriptions filled and delivered. To her surprise they could fill it and deliver in about twenty minutes. She left instructions to have the delivery person page her so she could come downstairs and get them. Vernon thought that everyone should check in on the presentation via the closed circuit company televisions.

"I'm not sure we want to see it Uncle Vernon." Hakeem said.

"Why not? Dre worked so hard on it. He should at least see how it turns out." He turned on the tv and found the company station. It was just getting started. The conference room was full and they could see the wall of people who weren't there viewing it by poly-com.

"Good morning everyone. I know you were expecting my son Andre, Empire's CFO, but he's a little under the weather today. He...uh ate something that didn't agree with him." They could hear a few groans from the crowd. "It's not Montezuma's revenge but it might be a close cousin." That garnered a few laughs from the attendees. "But we have Samantha, Tim and Joseph here who have worked right along with Andre on this so they know this inside and out. And should be able to answer any questions should they arise. So let's give them our undivided attention shall we?"

"Well, at least he didn't let them steal your thunder and gave you credit." Jamal said. Andre was still in the fetal position not wanting to move. Cookie had grabbed a bottle of water from his mini-fridge and had the Depakote in her hand. She kneeled next to him. She didn't want to treat him like a child, but what else could she do?

"Ok Andre, Dr. Morell says you need to take this right now the others as soon as you can. Could you please sit up for me?" He gave her the coldest stare he could. "Come on son, I know you don't want to take this but you have to until you can balance out on your own." Hakeem tried to nude his older brother to sit up and he was refusing.

"I don't want to take that stuff. You don't know what it's like."

"Well, I tell you what. You take this, let it get in your system and **you** tell me what it's like; help me understand **you** Andre. I can read information all damn day but none of it can tell me **your** experience with this disorder. Only you can do that." Everyone could tell Andre was thinking about it. After a few minutes finally sat up. She handed him the pill and the water bottle, then without further argument, he took the medicine. "Open?" she asked and he opened his mouth so she could see that he actually took it. "Thank you."

Cookie looked at her oldest son. His eyes looked so sad and down trodden. Hopelessness was all over his face. And she was determined to change that. She had an idea, but she was going to wait until later to execute it. She sat on the couch behind him and placed her hands on his shoulders, indicating that she had his back. He placed his right hand on her letting her know he understood. They all spent a few minutes watching the presentation.

"Hey, since the doctor suggested he eat with that other medication, what should we order? That way the meds and food can get here about the same time."

"Junior's Deli is right around the corner." Jamal suggested. "And they're used to delivering here."

"I've never eaten there. What's good?" Cookie asked.

"I like the club sandwich." Jamal said.

"Yeah, that is good."

"They have good Rubens." Vernon suggested as he got closer to the tv. "If you like corned beef."

"They have a really good chicken salad sandwich." Andre replied. Everyone looked at him because they didn't expect him to participate in the conversation; none of them knew how long the medication would take to kick in.

"Ok, one chicken salad sandwich, three clubs and a Reuben?" Hakeem asked.

"Sound good to me." Cookie said.

"Andre, I must say you've taught your employees well. This presentation is awesome, they've learned a lot from you." Andre nodded his appreciation of the complement.

Thirty minutes later group who was like family was sitting together, eating and talking, trying to get a better idea of what was going on in Andre's world. And after a while he felt like he could go back to work, so they cleared his office and let him. No one wanted to take the last bit of progress towards the IPO from him. Lisa promised to keep and eye on him and to notify someone if she thought something was wrong.

Cookie sat in her office and tried to regroup. She had missed out on so much while being in jail. And there was absolutely nothing that Lucious could do to make up the time she missed with her sons. Hakeem wouldn't have mommy issues, Andre might have fared better with with the care of his mother. That's why Cookie getting involved right now was so important. He didn't pick the best wife, if her opinion. She definitely wouldn't have approved of her. Not because she was white (which was Lucious's complaint) but she didn't seem to have the heart for their relationship. Which reminded her that she needed to make a phone call.

"Hi Xandri? It's Cookie. How are you?...Good. Listen I have a favor to ask of you, are you free after work?...Great. Could you please stop by Empire? Thanks, I'll see you then."


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own and I'm not affiliated with any of the songs mentioned or any part of Empire.

**Warning:** See intro

**A/N:** This very long and is a conversation within a conversation. Here's the map:

1\. Andre and Xandri's conversation (and narrative) is written regularly

2\. Comments from the peanut gallery (those watching the conversation) are in the bold brackets **[…]**

3\. Song lyrics _**bold italics**_

Hope that makes sense. Thanks for reading. Please review and recommend.

Chapter 3

Cookie met Xandri downstairs and while they rode the elevator up she explained the day's events. Clearly still shaken, she confessed that she really wasn't ready for what she had seen. They walked to Andre's office.

"You can just knock on the door. I'm sure he'll be glad to see you. Thank you so much for coming. I really appreciate it."

"No problem. I'm glad you called me."

As Cookie was leaving, almost running, from Andre's office and she ran into Jamal and Hakeem.

"Hey ma, is Andre still in? Hakeem and I thought we'd get him and we have some dinner together."

"Yes, he's in there with his friend Xandri." Cookie replied grabbing their hands.

"Xandri? I've never heard of her." Hakeem said.

"Is she real or imaginary?"

"She's very real and if you two hurry to my office with me we can see how really real she is." And she pulled them into her office. As they were hurrying they caught Lucious's eye and he followed them.

Cookie turned the tv to the closed circuit channel Malcolm assigned for this purpose. On the screen was an image of Andre sitting at his desk looking at some papers. Lucious walked in the door, startling them.

"Why are the three of you running around like some roaches hiding from the light?"

"Shh! Get in here and close the door."

"Why? What are you doing?" He looked at the tv. "And why is there a camera in Andre's office?"

"I had Malcolm put two in there while he was in your meeting this afternoon. It was a quick operation because you don't like long meetings."

"And why are you spying on him?" asked Lucious.

"For one, I asked Xandri to come over and talk to him about what happened this morning. And I just want to see what goes on between the two of them when they talk."

"And two?" he asked.

"And two, in case we have another situation like this morning we can see what's going on."

"Who is she?" Jamal asked.

"She is your brother's ex-girlfriend that told us he talks to her when he has problems and she helps him. I just want to see what she does."

"An ex? Does Rhonda know about her?" Hakeem wondered.

"Yes, and Rhonda can't stand her." Cookie moved her chair from behind her desk. "Ya'll might want to get comfortable."

Andre was sitting at his desk, looking over numbers he'd probably looked over fifty times in the past hour. He guessed he could leave it alone until the next day. This was a part of the leveling out that he didn't like after starting medication again. He was somewhere between bored and in a fog. As he began to straighten his desk he heard a knock on his door. It was after hours and there couldn't have been that many more people still working in the building. He thought it probably was his father.

"Come in." The door opened and a familiar face peeked in.

"Andre?" he looked up and saw Xandri's face. "I'm not disturbing you am I?" He stood up and immediately came to meet her.

"Xandri! Hell no, you're not disturbing me. I was just thinking about leaving. Come in, come in." She walked in and closed the door behind her.

**["She got a nice ass." Hakeem said. Cookie hit his arm.]**

**["Hakeem!"]**

**["What? I can't look?"]**

"How are you?" Andre greeted her with open arms and they gave each other the warmest and sincerest of hugs.

**["They're hugging a little too long for me." Lucious said. Jamal shook his head at his father.]**

"I'm good. It's great to see you, it's been a few months."

"Yeah, we talk but there's nothing like seeing your beautiful face."

"Oh listen to you."

"Please have a seat." He directed her to the couch. She placed her coat and purse in the chair facing them.

**["Damn, I know he's a little off now. She's a dime-piece times ten and he left **_**her**_** for Rhonda?" Hakeem commented.]** "So what brings you by here? Empire doesn't seem like the kind of place you would choose to hang out in after work hours."

"True but I...uh...came to see you. To check in with you, see how you're doing."

"My mother called you didn't she?" Xandri nodded. Andre groaned and rolled his eyes. "Why did she do that?"

"Oh don't fuss at her. She called because she's doing what she thought was best for you. Besides I don't mind coming here to see you. So come on, tell me about your day."

"What's there to say? I had a serious episode this morning. Right before I was supposed to do this really important presentation for the IPO. I can usually pull myself together if nobody bothers me, but not this morning. I locked myself in here and I didn't want to let anyone in. It was the first time my mom had seen me like that. I think it really shook her. I don't think any of them had seen me like that. My dad didn't really care. No big surprise there. Hakeem said I looked like I was gonna kill him. It was just scary for all of them."

**["Was it that bad?" Lucious asked.]**

**["Yeah, he was kinda stone faced after you left." Jamal said.]**

"I know. Seeing it for the first time is scary. And you can't really prepare people for that because it's different every time. Do you have any idea what your stressor was?" He shrugged his shoulders.

**["That's what I want to know." Cookie said.]**

"There's a lot going on." His voice began to shake. "Um...it could've been anything, everything, nothing. Things aren't going the way I want them to Xandri, the way I feel they _should_ be." Andre tried his best to blink back his tears but couldn't.

**["Is he getting ready to cry?" was the complaint from Lucious.]** "I just...I just...I..."

"It's ok, let it out, let it all out." He buried his face in his hands and cried.

**["Look at this shit! What is he crying about?"]**

**["Does it matter Lucious? Your son feels overwhelmed with **_**everything**_** in his life. What do you do when it happens to you?"]**

**["I damn sure don't cry about it! Crying does nothing but give you a stuffy head and puffy eyes."]**

**["So you mean to tell me, that you didn't shed any tears when you found out you had ALS and that your expiration date was closer than you thought?" asked Jamal. "Even you can't be that cold-hearted. Not to yourself."]**

**["I took a step back, I'll admit that. But I didn't cry about it, I didn't be a punk about it. I didn't show any weakness about it. I raised y'all to be strong, not weak. Or did you forget that?"]**

**["Hey, we're not gonna fight amongst each other anymore." Cookie said. "We need to be on a united front for Andre. We need to be on a united front for all of us."]** After about ten minutes he felt like he could talk again.

"I feel so **damned** defeated sometimes! Like this damn thing won't let me live. Am I loosing my mind Xandri? Am I cracking up?" She cradled his face in her hands and gently kissed his forehead as his tears flowed. Her heart hurt for him. This disorder didn't play fair and she ended up shedding a few tears of her own.

**["He's so open with her. I've ain't never seen him be that open with nobody." commented Hakeem.]**

"No, you're not cracking up honey. I promise you're not. You're _so much stronger_ than you know. I've always known that and I've always told you that. At one point you used to believe it."

"Sometimes I only feel it when I talk to you or think about you." She wiped his tears with the pads of her thumbs. He managed to look at her through his tears.

"You're crying. Why are you crying?"

"I don't like to see people hurting; I don't like to see you hurting."

"I don't want you to cry over me Xandri; I'm not worth the cry." he whispered.

**["Is he serious?" asked Lucious.]**

"Well, who are you to decide when, where, and how I choose to shed my tears?" she replied laughing a little. "You'll lose that argument every single time because worthy causes _always_ get my tears."

**["You tell him Xandri."]** He managed to smile a little bit. "Are you taking your meds properly?"

**["Hell naw, he's not taking them!"]**

"You know the answer to that. They put me in that fog that won't let me think or feel. I want to be able to _feel_ Xandri."

"If you stay on the medication and talk to the therapist regularly it would help tremendously. My uncle has worked hard and is off the serious meds. He takes some herbal stabilizers now and he's done well."

**[Cookie grabbed a pen hoping she might give Andre some names of the herbal medication.]**

"But how long was he on the meds?"

"Years but after he got serious about his treatment, extremely serious, things began to change for him. Things will change for you too."

"I don't know what to do Xandri."

**["Get your shit together, that's what you do." Lucious said.]**

"As soon the IPO is done, you should go somewhere."  
"Vacation?"

"If you want to tell everyone that, you can. But I mean a facility."

"A mental health facility? No I don't wanna do that."

**["Come on Dre, at least think about it man." Jamal said.]**

"Yes, it's the only way. You need to get back to that structure and discipline to help you stay on track. Talking to the therapist and your family, getting your feelings out will help your desire to want to stay healthy. Daily meditations have helped uncle Rock so much. I can't see why they wouldn't help you too."

"Clearing my mind is easier said than done."

"Well, one of the lessons I learned from him is to prioritize what's on your mind. He meditates and when he's done, he starts on that list and if he only gets three of twelve things done, then the rest waits for the next day. And he doesn't beat himself up for what doesn't get done. Surely you can do that."

"Have you noticed where I work? There's _always_ something that needs to be done." Xandri took his hands in hers.

**["Yeah, do you know where he works, Xandri?"]**

"You can do it. I know you can."

"Thank you for having so much faith in me."

"It won't be long before you get your faith back in yourself."

**["At least he's smiling now." Hakeem said.]**

She smiled at him and Andre smiled back at her. A genuine smile, a happy smile. He began to kiss her hands in appreciation. Then her fingers knowing this would maker her giggle.

**["Um, Andre what are you doing?" Cookie asked leaning forward.]** His lips made their way to her wrists, which he remembered was a sensitive spot for her; she became breathless and moaned with pleasure.

**["Wait, did she just moan?"]**

"Nah, nah, nah Andre. _What are you doing?_"

"Kissing you."

"Uh, I don't think you really want to go there." She placed her finger on his lips in a poor attempt to get him to stop.

"It's _exactly_ where I want to go." he replied and removed her finger to kiss her. He tilted his head to the right, placed his finger under her chin and brought her face closer.

**["Uh..."]**

[**"Is he gonna kiss her?" Jamal asked.]** It started gently, then their lips seemed to open simultaneously, drawing each other further in.

**["Damn bruh, go ahead then!" Hakeem said smiling.]** Sensuality took over as their tongues met and she erotically sucked his tongue, bringing forth butterflies in both of their stomachs. Xandri reluctantly moved back, because it would be so easy to continue and go beyond.

**["As long as he and Rhonda have been together I've never seen them kiss like that." Lucious said. "Never."]**

**["That's the kiss of a man in love." Jamal noted and before Lucious could make a rude remark "Keep it to yourself dad."]** She shook her head "no" when he came in for a fifth kiss.

"Andre..."

"What's wrong?"

"You know we can't."

"We can and we just did." he said moving toward her face again. This time she placed her hand on his lips to stop him.

"You're married. I can't do that to your marriage."**["Smart girl." Cookie replied.]**

"I miss kissing you and holding you. Those were some of my favorite times. After studying our lessons we got to study each other." They laughed. "You remember how you used to lay on my chest, across my body really, and we'd just kiss and talk?"

"Yes, I also remember doing that because _**you**_ wanted to feel all on my booty." Andre looked behind her. **["I'd do the same thing Dre." Hakeem said]**

"Well could you blame a brotha'? It was a beautiful booty. Probably still is."

"Oh no, hands off mister." she said as she pulled his hands from around her waist in an attempt to keep them where she could see them.

"Is there anyone else feeling all on your booty?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but no."

"So you're saying I've got a chance?" They laughed again.

"No, not as long as you're married to Rhonda. I never liked to share my man and after what happened with Jordan, you know I make triple sure there is no sharing going on."

They sat there admiring each other.

**["Look at the way he's looking at her, like he could sop her up with a biscuit or something." Cookie remarked.]**

**["He's way more into her than he is Rhonda. I wonder if that's why she doesn't like her?" Jamal mused.]** Xandri always loved the squareness of his jaw and the smile- no it was more like a smirk- that could make her wet. He also had perfected that LL Cool J lip licking/biting action. She wasn't the only one swooning over that action that but she was the only one who benefited from it. Andre's attention to detail was such a turn on for her; he paid attention to what she wore, what she ate, liked to read, loved to listen to. They were all a part of his charm and sexiness. Even at nineteen, he was _damn_ _sexy_. He always loved everything about her. She always had naturally beautiful long hair, gorgeous hazel eyes, lovely mocha skin, and curves so sexy that would make a winding road jealous. And he loved feeling every single curve. Her voice was smooth and sweet as honey and every time he heard it, it made him breathless and he wanted to hear more.

"Jordan was a fool for messing things up with you."

"No argument here."

"And so was I."

**["Wait...what?" They all said simultaneously.]**

"I won't argue with that either." He watched her cross her legs as they continued to hold hands, remember what those legs used to feel like surrounding his waist. "Do you ever have 'what ifs' about us? I think a part of me going after Rhonda was the beginning of this disorder. But what if I had stayed focused on you, on us? What if we had stayed together? What kind of life would we have?" She shrugged.

**["Is he really going there?" asked Lucious.]**

"I don't know. I'd like to think that I'd be the type of wife who would support you no matter what."

"I think you would too. When I think about us and what could've been, I remember stuff we used to do. Like this, holding hands and cuddling. I miss that."

**["I don't think I've ever seen them hold hands." Hakeem said.]**

"And Rhonda?"

"She's not much of a cuddler."

**["I didn't think she was." Cookie mused.]**

"And no big booty to grab on either."

"There's that."

**["Got that right!" Cookie hit Hakeem's arm again.]** They laughed. "Do you remember some of the music we used to listen to while hanging out together or being intimate?" he said with as much sex appeal as he could.

"Yes, I still have a lot of that music in my play list."

"Me too!" Andre took out his phone and brought up the playlist. "Do you remember this one?" He pressed play and Maxwell's "'Til The Cops Come Knockin'" started to play. Xandri smiled, rolled her eyes at his mannish behavior but relished in the memory.

**["I don't know that song." Hakeem said.]**

**["I've heard of it. Very sexy song." Jamal said.]**

"Of course I do. Especially that the time the cops _actually_ came knocking."

"Well, it wasn't _exactly_ a cop..."

"No, it was the your floor's Resident Assistant, _which is dorm speak for cop_." she laughed.

"To be _fair_," Andre said, "my neighbor did have a valid complaint about my headboard hitting the wall...a lot."

**["What?!" was Cookie's response.]**

**["That's my big brother." Hakeem said laughing and trying to slide over to escape his mother's slap to his arm.]**

"Anyway." she giggled.

"How about this one?" One click and Sade's "Kiss of Life" played.

**["Well, I give them props on the music. Sade's on everybody's sex play list." commented Lucious.]**

"Ah Sade." Andre could tell she was blushing from the memory. "I remember that afternoon. I had just finished doing laundry..."

"Hmmm Mmmm, and you had to change your sheets."

"My goodness you are so bad!"

**["He's the bad one? She sounds like a little freak!"]**

"Wait, we can't forget this one." He played another song. "Janet Jackson's 'Anytime, Anyplace' against the wall next to your dresser?"

**[Hakeem took out his phone and starting looking up the songs as Andre and Xandri mentioned them.]**

**["Boy what are you doing?" Cookie asked him.]**

**["Taking notes, duh." He wasn't fast enough to get away from her hitting his arm that time.]**

"Everybody had gone to the party after the football game."

"Except for us. I didn't know I had that much stamina." She laughed. "You're laughing but I'm so serious."

"Stamina was never a problem between us."

"Mmmm, no it wasn't. We didn't have any problems regarding intimacy did we?"

"Nope. Unless you count being patient in waiting until we were done studying or had some alone time."

**["Damn, sounds like she had that good-good and he was addicted." Lucious said. "Sounds like he still might be." He was sitting too far away from Cookie for her to hit him but she threw a notepad his way.]**

"Speaking of no alone time...do you remember that time when you figured out how to send me that text of a curvy body and told me to come by after I left the library? None of your suite mates wanted to go **anywhere.** We were in your room and we played that other Janet Jackson song we loved 'The Body That Loves You'?"

"Oh my god and we tried our best to not let them hear us."

"Probably the quietest and most intense orgasm I've ever had in my life!"

**["Oh. My. God. I don't know what to say!" Cookie said. Lucious laughed at his ex-wife.]**

**["Cookie, he was college student. That's what college boys do."]**

"Me too! When you talk about this songs you'd think we were at it every time we saw each other."

"True, _however_ we should never apologize for the way we _felt_ about each other. Love makes you do that sometimes." He looked her straight in the eye when he said those words, hoping that she knew it wouldn't take much to get those feelings back. She kissed his nose and in a moment of weakness she kissed him. And he didn't resist. She pulled away, again reluctantly, each of them relishing the taste of the other on their lips.

**["I don't know who wants who more." Jamal said.]**

**["I know right?" replied Hakeem.]**

"Damn it, I said I wasn't going to do that!" Xandri forced herself to sit back. "So what other fuzzy feeling down memory lane to you have in there?"

"Only one of our favorite songs, ever." She thought for a moment.

"Andre if you play that song I will have to leave!" He clicked the song, it began to play and Xandri quickly clicked the screen to make it stop.

**["Wait, what was it?" Hakeem asked.]**

**["I couldn't tell." Jamal wondered.]**

**["It sounded like The O'Jays." Lucious said.]**

"Awe come on Xandri! You know you _loved_ this song. The mighty O'Jays singing 'Lovin' You' was everything! We had orgasms all _over_ that song."

**["Ewww..." Cookie made a face at that comment.]**

"I know..."

"And I remember that you used to sing it until you got to that point you couldn't sing anymore and let that orgasm go."

**[Cookies grabbed the remote from her desk. "Oh my god I can't listen to this. I'm turning it off!"]**

**["No!" Hakeem insisted.]**

**["Hey you were the one who wanted to spy on them," Lucious said laughing. "you can't complain now."]**

"Well it was kinda hard to _sing_ with your **head** between my legs! And if I remember _correctly_, **we** used to sing this to each other, hands locked until **we** reached that point where we couldn't sing anymore."

**["That's hella intimate." mentioned Jamal.]**

**["Nobody says hella anymore." remarked Hakeem.]**

"Did we sing this together?" Xandri nodded. "I don't remember us singing it, I remember **you** singing."

"Yeah we sang it."

"Well," he said standing and extending his hand, "let's take a trip down memory lane. May I have this dance?" She gave him a crazy look as she stood, hands on her hips.

"Dance to this song...with you? Knowing how we used to be on this song?"

"Why not?"

"Only if you can keep your hands and 'him'," she said pointing to his crotch, "under control." Andre looked down at his crotch.

"You hear that down there? Control yourself. Can you do that?"

**["Man, how much of a cornball can you be Andre?"]**

**["Did he just really say that?"]**

"Oh my god!" she said laughing.

"He agrees." Xandri shook her head and smiled.

"Ok, let's dance."

"Bring those sexy hips over here." Andre started the song, then he tenderly pulled Xandri into his arms. Her hands rested on his chest as they began to sway to the music. When the verse started he began to sing:

_**Lovin' you  
Has made my life much sweeter, baby  
Baby, since I've got you  
Everything is alright**_

**["I've never heard my son sing." Cookie said.]**

"Come on Xandri, sing with me." She decided to go ahead and sing with him:

_**When I'm lovin' you  
I feel so good inside, ooh baby  
When I make love to you  
I'm in paradise, I'm in paradise, oh**_

**["She can sing too. Do you hear that harmony between them?"]**

_**You know you make me feel  
You make me feel so good  
From my head down to my toes  
Sometimes I wanna shout  
I wanna scream, tell the world about it  
There's a girl in my mind  
Your love is so good, so good, so good, so good to me**_

_**Needing you**_  
_**I need you in everything I do**_  
_**Baby, since I've got you**_  
_**My life is complete**_

_** (Instrumental)**_

Xandri placed her forehead against Andre's. "Ah, I've forgotten how sexy you sound when you sing."

"And I've forgotten what it feels like to have you in my arms." Xandri's hands were now around Andre's neck and they were staring into each other's eyes.

**["Shit, you see them? They're oozing sex. Are we sure they're not sleeping together?" Lucious asked.]**

**["She said they weren't Lucious."]**

**["Do we believe her?"]**

_**I'm in paradise, I'm in paradise**_  
_**You know you make me feel**_  
_**You make me feel so good**_  
_**From my head down to my toes**_

_**And sometimes I wanna shout**_  
_**I wanna scream, oh and tell the world about it**_  
_**There's a girl in my mind**_  
_**Your love is so good, so good, so good to me**_

"Your love was more than just good to me, it was amazing." Andre pulled her even closer, then they were cheek to cheek.

**["This song is deep." Jamal noted. "It expressed everything when they were together and it looks like nothing has changed. I don't know why he's with Rhonda but it's clear with this song, he'd rather be with Xandri."]**

_**Oh, lovin' you**_  
_**Has made my life much sweeter baby**_  
_**Baby, since I've got you**_  
_**Everything is alright**_  
_**Everything is alright**_

This song had always said what he felt in his heart about Xandri. At that moment he was doing a poor job of hiding his emotions. So was she. His heart was beating so hard and he just knew she could feel it pulsing through his body. She was blinking back tears herself.

_**The way you love me  
Feels so right  
The way you hold me  
Feels alright  
Everything is alright**_

**["Look at her. I think she feels the same about him."]**

_**When you kiss me, baby  
Everything, everything is just, just  
Feels so good it's not true  
Everything is alright**_

As much as they tried to fight it, their lips found each other. Their kiss expressed a deep desire and sensuality that absolutely had to be suppressed, except for this moment. Reluctantly and breathlessly the kiss ended and he held her closer to him.

_** As long as I keep food on the table  
Long as I keep the bills paid, baby  
Long as I'm lovin' you  
Long as you're lovin' me  
Everything is alright**_

"I'll always need you Xandri. As long as I have you in my life everything is alright."

"But I can't be in your like the way you want, the way we want."

"I know." It pained Andre to say that. They spent the last minute of the song holding each other for dear life.

_**As long as I'm taking care of you, baby  
And every little thing is alright**_

_** The way you love me**_  
_** The way you hold me**_  
_** The way you wrap your arms**_  
_** Wrap your arms around me**_

**["I don't understand. If she loves him that much, wants him that much what is she waiting on? She could take Rhonda down, no problem." Hakeem said.]**

**["I know, I don't get it either." Jamal replied. "Xandri clearly has the power over his heart. I mean look at them. Is she giving up?"]**

**["No," Cookie said. "she's not giving up; believe me she has a plan. And a genius one at that. She knows exactly what she's doing."]**

The music stopped but their embrace didn't. Neither wanted to let go. These were moments that were years in the making but would have to last a lifetime as long as he was married to Rhonda. It would be easy if she had agreed to be his mistress, the side chick. But Xandri really didn't want to share him. She wanted to protect him, to care for him, be his advocate, his support system, and to love him.

**["They're so gentle with each other. I've never seen him act that way with Rhonda. They never show emotion like that. You can't even tell they're married." Lucious commented.]**

Andre pushed back a curl from that had fallen into her face and caressed her cheek as he smiled. Xandri took his hands and held them close to her heart so he could feel how fast her heart was beating, then he did the same for her. And she knew if she stayed any longer she would really violate his marriage vows and they would be naked on the floor.

"I should probably be going."

"Do you have to?" he whispered. Xandri nodded. "I don't want you to."

"I know. I don't want to either, but I have to. If I don't we'll be in trouble."

"I'm not afraid of a little trouble."

**["That's my cue to head out to meet her. Try not to mess up my office ok?"]**

"Andre..."

"I know, I know." She grabbed her purse and coat and tried to leave but he kept hold of her hand. Kissing her fingers he asked, "How soon can I see you again?"

**["See? He's really trying to rekindle their relationship. Why doesn't he just leave Rhonda? Life is too short to spend it with the wrong person." Jamal shook his head.]**

**["You think it's that easy?" Lucious asked. "Just to give up on a marriage?"]**

**["If the love isn't there dad, it isn't there." Jamal replied.]**

**["And it's clear, there's no more love for Rhonda." Hakeem said.]**

"We'll see. You can call me anytime you need to talk. You know that." He nodded. "Please make sure you take your medicine and talk to the therapist, ok? More than anything I want you to be healthy."

"I will."

"Promise?"

"I promise." She caressed his cheek and gave his one last kiss on his lips.

"Good night."

"Good night Xandri." And with that she left Andre's office.

Once she closed the door, it took everything in her will not to go back into the office. Cookie met her as she was walking down the hall. Xandri almost felt embarrassed to face her because of how she was feeling. And she was sure it was written all over her face.

"Hey girl I was just coming to check on you guys." Cookie noticed her tears. "Are you ok? How did everything go?"

"I'm fine, I just miss seeing him, being close to him. I mean we talk, when he needs to but seeing him...did something to me." She wiped a few tears. "We had a good talk though. But I really am concerned about him."

"Why?"

"He's scared Cookie. Really scared. I'm scared for him and I haven't seen him this scared in years."

"How many years?"

"Four or five maybe. Please listen to me when I say as _soon_ as the IPO is done, he needs to check in." Cookie nodded that she understood.

"I will. Lucious and I have talked about it. We just need Rhonda on board."

"If she can't do it, for his sanity you have to do it."

"Believe me, I understand that more than you know. No matter how grown your children are, a mother's work is never done. Xandri thank you so much for coming over. I can't thank you enough."

"It was my pleasure, it really was."

An hour later Andre was walking into his home and everything was quiet. He didn't see his wife right away so he called out for her. No answer; didn't mean she wasn't there. He wandered into the kitchen where their chef had left a note about dinner. Apparently Rhonda had given him the night off. Andre hung his suit jacket on the back of a stool at the counter top and loosened his tie, preparing to warm up his dinner. He had just gotten the salad and meat out of the refrigerator when he heard the click of Rhonda's heels.

"Hi honey, you're home. I thought I heard you call me." Andre turned around to find his wife dressed for a night out in stunning knee-length turquoise strapless dress. Her hair was pinned up and along with flawless makeup, she had on a dazzling platinum diamond jewelry set that she bought herself the year before. "I see you found Carl's note. I gave him the night off."

"I see. Um...was there a dinner engagement that I forgot about?" Rhonda looked down at her dress.

"What, this? Oh no, nothing you forgot about. I was invited to a secret fashion show tonight by the photographer from the shoot today." Remembering some of the day's events, he decided to take Xandri's advice and to try talking to his wife.

"So how was the photo soot today?"

"Oh it was great!" she exclaimed. "The weather was chilly put the pictures turned out amazing. I think this new line will be our best seller yet. And how was your day? You had a presentation didn't you?" Rhonda was asking but wasn't really concentrating on him, just her phone.

"The presentation went well. Tim, Samantha and Joe did an excellent job."

"What? You let someone else present something for the IPO? What happened?" Andre needed to tell her about his episode, but he needed her to sit down and listen.

"I, uh...wasn't feeling well this morning."

"Oh?" She placed the back of her hand on his forehead then underneath each side cheek, feeling for a fever. "You don't feel feverish."

"It wasn't a fever. I had an epi-" Just then her phone rang and she answered.

"Hey Sarah, I'm ready. Are you outside?...Awesome, I'm on my way out." She turned to her husband. "Sarah is here, so I'm gonna go. I'm sure I can watch the presentation tomorrow. I'm glad you're feeling better."

"But I wasn't that kind of sick Rhonda."

"Well, we can talk about it later. Don't heat that steak up for longer than two minutes or else it'll be tough." She reached up to kiss him. "Don't wait up." And she left for the night.

Andre stood in disbelief and silence for a few minutes. He had just tried to tell his wife about his day but she couldn't be bothered. Just like when his mother and brothers had tried to call her about him. How was he supposed to get better when his support system was failing?

* * *

**A/N2: **I was trying to be ambitious and upload five chapters at once, but I'm having trouble finishing chapter 4. Please enjoy these three and hopefully four will be up by the end of the week.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the song "If Only For One Night"; it's written by Brenda Russell and sung by Luther Vandross.

**Warning:** See intro

**A/N: **It's a long chapter. Hang in there. I used Google Translate for the Spanish and Swahili. Translations are in parenthesis {…}. Lyrics and love poem in _**bold**__**italics**_.

Chapter 4

Andre lay in his bed listening to the deafening silence. Rhonda was sound asleep next to him, not disturbed by anything. He tried his best to remain still because tossing and turning would wake her, and he didn't want that. A therapist once told him that he should try writing down his thoughts before bed to help clear his mind. He didn't do that tonight because the only thing on the list would be Xandri.

It was awesome to see her today, although they both wished it had been on different terms. Hearing her voice over the phone didn't compare to hearing it in person. And seeing her? That was the only thing that made his episode worth it. She was still beautiful. And his heart still desired her. Andre pulled back the covers and sat on the side of the bed, trying to decide the best way to go back to sleep. So he grabbed some workout clothes, went downstairs to their home gym and he ran on the treadmill for thirty minutes, thinking that would tire him out. It didn't. He tried some sit ups and push ups. Andre worked up a little sweat but that was about it. Then it hit him: just call Xandri.

He snuck back into the bedroom, grabbed his phone and quietly snuck back out. He walked down the hall, far enough from the bedroom so he couldn't be heard and called her. It rang a few times before she answered, her voice surrounded in sleep.

"Hello?"

"Hey Xandri." She looked over at her alarm clock, eyes barely open. It was after one a.m.

"Andre, are you ok?"

"Yeah...well not really. I'm having trouble sleeping."

"Is it the medicine?"

"Maybe. Could be the vision of this beautiful lady that was in my office earlier today. Could be the weather." She could hear his smile through the phone. "But it's probably you."

"I must have caused a hell of a commotion, huh?"

"Yes ma'am you did." he chuckled.

"What can I do to help you go to sleep?"

"May I come see you?" Direct and to the point. Xandri sat straight up in her bed.

"Come see me? Andre it's after one a.m."

"I know but I just need to see you again. Please?" She contemplated it. She could always go in the office later. It was her company. And as long as he needed to talk, she guessed it was alright.

"Ok, come on."

"Thank you. Be there in twenty." Xandri plopped back down on her bed and sighed.

"What have I gotten myself into?" she asked the air. She laid there for a few minutes, wondering if she should have changed her mind, but eventually got up and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She didn't want to talk to Andre with dragon breath. Then she donned her bathrobe and headed towards her kitchen. She grabbed a bottle of water, a handful of grapes and couple of chocolate chip cookies. By the time she walked into her living room to turn on a lamp, her intercom dinged. She saw Andre in the lobby and she buzzed him in. A minute or so later her doorbell rang. She couldn't believe it...twenty minutes on the dot. _He must own a Bat-mobile or a cape like Superman to get here so fast, _she thought.

When she opened the door she didn't know why, but she expected to see Andre dressed in a suit. But he was dressed in some nice fitting sweat pants, very worthy of the now defunct "eggplant Friday" hashtag from Instagram, defining everything a woman would want to see (and a few gay men). She had to force her eyes to look up from his crotch. As her eyes traveled up she noticed that his long sleeved t-shirt fit in such a way that every single sculpted muscle was displayed, as if it had been painted on him. And she thought again _What have I gotten myself into?_

"Hi." he said and she just stared. "Xandri?"

"Huh?"

"Hi."

"Oh hey...um sorry about that. Please come in." she said stepping back to give him room to enter.

"My mom told me a very long time ago as a boy to always bring flowers to a woman so I uh...brought you these." he said presenting her with a bouquet of purple hydrangeas. "If I remember correctly, these are your favorite." Xandri took the gift with surprise.

"Oh Andre, these are beautiful! And yes they _are_ my favorite." She inhaled the familiar scent. "And where in the _world_ do you get fresh hydrangeas at one in the morning?" Andre shrugged and smirked.

"The flower merchants get their deliveries around this time of morning and separate them to fill flower shop orders. And, I might know a guy. Or three."

"A guy or three huh? Well, these are a very unexpected surprise. Thank you very much."

"You're welcome."

"Let me find a vase for these." She headed towards her kitchen and Andre couldn't help but watch her walk away. His eyes were mesmerized. "Would you like anything to eat or drink while I'm in here?"

"Hmmm?" he replied not paying attention at all.

"Would you like anything to eat or drink?"

"Oh, water is fine. Thank you."

"Sit anywhere you like." She found her favorite vase, added water then her flowers. She brought them back to the living room along with a bottle of water for Andre. "I'll put these on the coffee table for now." She handed Andre the bottle and sat next to him on the couch. He took a long drink from it as if it were a libation to settle his nerves. "So, how can I help you?" He set the bottle on the coffee table.

"Xandri, I have to be honest with you. I haven't been able to get you off my mind since you left my office. _Every_ _single_ _thing_ we shared together started flooding my mind. So many conversations, memories, and feelings..."

"Nice to know I'm not the only one. That kiss was just..."

"I know right? And all I wanted was more." He reached out and held her hand, caressing her fingers.

"Me too." she admitted quietly. He tucked a strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail holder behind her ear.

"Seeing you today made my heart feel _so_ good. I haven't felt that way in _**years**_ Xandri. **Years**."

"But what about Rhonda? What about your love life together?" Andre sighed.

"She may be my wife but I don't feel anything when I'm with her. Not like what I felt with you today." He moved closer to her and reached for her other hand. "She doesn't make me feel like a man."

"What, like strong and masculine?"

"No, like vulnerable and wanted. I can't let my guard down with her anymore, not with the most inner parts of me. I can't share my emotions with her like I can with you."

"But you should be able to."

"We should but we can't. And that's why I talk to you. I can tell you everything I can't tell her."

"Can't or won't tell her?"

"Both."

"Andre, I'm sure if you talk to her, she-"

"No, she won't. She doesn't _understand_ me like you do. How can I explain this... a man needs to feel liked, loved and cared for. Sometimes a man needs to feel a woman caress and touch him, kiss him all over. That touch means something to us. It means something to _**me**_. A man needs a cuddle, someone to hold him, someone who make love to him. She doesn't do that."

"So you're saying you guys don't have a sex life?"

"Oh, we have a sex life. S_ex_ is just fine. Rhonda and I don't have a _love_ _life_. We **don't** **make **_**love**_." Xandri was shocked by this statement and her mouth dropped open. "See sex is just a physical release, what the body does naturally. She can do that with her eyes closed; literally. **You** are the only woman I've ever had an _emotional_ release with. _And that's what I need_, an emotional release."

"I'm not sure I understand what you want Andre." She looked at him. "Wait...is this a booty call?"

"No, no, no. Never that. If I want sex I can get that from Rhonda **anytime**; promise her a new purse, shoes or jewelry and she'll do anything I want. _But she can't make love to me Xandri!_ My heart won't let me share that emotion with her."

"So what do you want _me_ to do? How am I supposed to give you your emotional release?"

"Make love with me Xandri." Again she was shocked.

"Andre!"

"I'm serious _mi __querida_ {my darling}."

"You're _**married**_." she replied, holding up his left hand to focus on his wedding band but found none there. "Boy, where is your ring?"

"Downstairs in my car." Xandri gave a frustrated sigh.

"Oh my god Andre taking it off doesn't make you any less married!"

"I know it doesn't; **however** taking it off means I don't have to focus on _it_ at the moment. I can focus on us and _our_ moment." He pulled her closer until she was almost sitting on his lap.

"You know I don't like to share Andre. I don't want to be your mistress. I want all of you, not a part of you."

"Believe me, I want the same thing too. I wanna give you all of my love and attention." Xandri sighed. "Plan a future together." He pulled her onto his lap to straddle him and she didn't resist. The raw, sexual scent of him from his previous workout and his own arousal enticed her.

"And just how do you plan to do that?" The tie of her robe had come loose and it now hung open, exposing her legs. And how short her night shirt was. Andre began to nuzzle her neck with his nose, planting a few kisses there.

"Andre..." she whispered.

"I always loved kissing your neck because the scent of you, perfume or not, has always aroused me."

"What are you...doing?" she moaned softly. "And you didn't answer my question."

"I want to make love with you." His lips traveled up her chin to her lips and she couldn't resist his kiss. She slid her arms around his neck and let herself be drawn in. After a few minutes she ended the kiss for air. And when she looked in his eyes she thought she would see pure lust, but it was something else. "_Haz el amor conmigo?_ {Make love with me?}" he asked, the Spanish words rolling off his tongue as if they were his native language.

"¿Por qué? {Why?}"

"_Porque te amo y me amas demasiado_. {Because I love you and you love me too.}" She looked at him. "_Y usted sabe que hacer_. {And you know you do.}" She didn't want to admit it but she was in love with him. Probably never stopped loving him.

She lowered her head for another kiss and Andre obliged. It was sensual and covered in desire. Andre gently nipped at her lips, causing her to giggle and smile. His hands found their way inside her robe to caress her legs. Her skin was still as smooth as he remembered. His touch was warm and soothing on her skin. Then he slipped his fingers inside the leg hole of her panties. Feeling lace, he lifted the night shirt with his other hand to take a peek.

"Did you wear these especially for me?" She laughed a little.

"No, I had no idea this is what you had in mind when you called me."

"So you just sleep in these?"

"Yes."

"Mmmm...interesting..." Andre brushed his index and middle finger across her feminine lips and felt her jump from the caress. "_Oh, tan sensible! _{Oh, so sensitive!}"

"_No se me ha tocado allí desde_ Jordan. {No one has touched me there since Jordan.}"

"_Déjame cambiar eso para usted esta noche._ {Let me change that for you tonight.}" His fingers then found their way inside her feminine folds, causing a reaction that thrust her bosom right into his face. Her wetness quickly coated his fingers and he slid them right across her clit, sending a shudder through her body. Andre's fingers surrounded her clit and massaged it, making her hips roll in response. It didn't take long for her to climax and release all over his hand. Andre smiled and planted a kiss on her lips. "Something tells me you needed that." Xandri rolled her eyes at him.

"Nothing that a toy couldn't do." He laughed.

"Oh really?"

"Yes really."

"Right. You and I both know you needed that and _we_ need more than that."

"Andre, if we go any further we'll-"

"Not _if_, **lets, **lets go further. Future plans are coming but I need tonight; _we_ need tonight."

"But Andre we-" He put his finger on her lips to hush her.

"Shh. How about we let our hearts lead our bodies to do the talking, huh?" Xandri couldn't do anything but look at him. Then he began to sing. Which he knew would guarantee him a way in.

_**Let me hold you tight  
If only for one night  
Let me keep you near  
To ease away your fear  
It would be so nice  
If only for one night**_

Andre pulled back the sleeves of her robe and began softly kissing her wrists. He loved the sound of her breath catching at his motions. She took her robe off to give him better access to her arms. He continued his song, sending his vocal vibrations through her skin:

_**I won't tell a soul  
No one has to know  
If you want to be totally discreet  
I'll be at your side  
If only for one night**_

_**If only for one night**_

"Don't stop kissing me..." she whispered.

"I won't unless you tell me to."

"...mmm...not doing that." Xandri kissed him this time, letting her lips travel down his cheek to his neck so she could nibble on his Adam's Apple. She went further down to his chest, teasing his nipples through his t-shirt, biting them and tugging on them with her teeth. Andre bit his lip in response to the pain. Hearing him moan at that motion turned her on even more.

"Am I hurting you?"

"Yes, but _**damn**_ it feels good! It's making my shirt tight but you can definitely keep going." So she tugged again and he cursed a little under his breath. The shirt already looked like it was painted on his body, hard nipples made it even tighter. So she obliged him by tugging at the hem of it to pull it over his head. She let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding when she saw his sculpted chest. It was a real work of art, like he was chiseled from the finest wood. Andre's nineteen-year-old four-pack of abs she once remembered had become a washboard one, taut and ripped beyond relief. Very worthy of being on the cover of a men's bodybuilding magazine. Her hands couldn't resist resting on his chest, the right hand feeling his heartbeat.

"Why does this feel like our first time all over again?" she said. He smiled and continued singing:

_**Your eyes say things I never hear from you  
And my knees are shakin too  
But I'm willin, willin to go thru  
I must be crazy  
Standin in this place  
But I'm feeling no disgrace**_

_**For asking**_

Andre placed his hand under her chin, bringing their eyes on the same level, and he stared straight into them.

_**Let me hold you tight  
If only for one night  
Let me keep you near  
To ease away your fear  
It would be so nice  
If only for one night**_

_**If only for one night**_

And now Xandri couldn't help but join in with the singing, because that's just how they were.

_**I tell you what I need is  
One night, one night oh (and oh, oh)  
What I need is  
One night, one night  
Of your love, of you love, of your lovin ooh  
I'm asking**_

"Ask away..." Andre encouraged. He slid down a little into the couch and she could now feel just how aroused he was. His pants were even tighter than when he was standing at the door. Xandri loved the feel of his erection underneath her. It gave her butterflies. She couldn't deny what was going between them any longer.

"Will you take me to my bedroom?" He was more than ready for that question.

"I thought you'd never ask." He slid forward towards the end of the couch, to get his bearings. "Wrap your legs around me when I stand up."

"Okay." Andre leaned forward and stood up, cradling his arms underneath her buttocks. She giggled. "I'm not too heavy am I?"

"Oh no," he replied. "just right." He carefully walked out of the living room with his precious cargo in his arms. "Okay, direct me to your bedroom."

"Walk to the hall and it's the first room on the right."

"My right or your right?"

"Your right." Andre pushed the door open with his foot and dipped to make sure that she didn't hit her head. Once inside he placed her on the bed and she unwrapped her legs. The sight of him as he stood in front of her, shirtless and erect, was breathtaking. He leaned forward and kissed her.

"You look as if you like what you see."

"I do like what I see." And as he stood back up she couldn't resist running her hand over his erection. Andre moaned and leaned into her touch. Xandri wanted to see more so she began to tug the super tight sweat pants down towards his knees.

"Wait baby, let me take my shoes off." he said laughing.

"Well hurry up then!" In a few seconds Andre was shoeless and pantless. She loved the way his underwear accented his manhood and she couldn't help but smile. Now it was her turn to put her fingers in his underwear and play. She cupped his balls and caressed them until he mewled. Then she slid her hand up his stiff shaft, pumping him slowly, swiping her thumb across the head and listened to him moan. Xandri urged him to come closer to her so she could remove his underwear. As soon as she did, that lovely manhood of his bounced free and Andre was sure he heard a small squeal of delight come from her.

As soon as he was close enough, he could feel her tongue swipe across the head of his penis. He wanted to pull back but she wasn't having it. She began to kiss and lick him all over and before he could protest she had taken him wholly into her mouth. Andre never asked Xandri to do that but was always appreciative when she did. Any man, straight or gay, would be. He gasped at the sensations she was giving him. He resisted putting his hands on her head to make her deep throat him. There was no need to; her nose was nestling in his hairs and she was inhaling his erotic musky scent as her tongue enjoyed the taste of him. Xandri slowly pulled up and they both heard the pop of her releasing him. He was ready for her to lay down on the bed.

"Thank you Xandri," he said "but you know you don't have to finish. Come on, let's lay down." Xandri looked up at him and smiled.

"Not yet baby." she replied as she pulled him closer. She placed her hand at the bottom of his shaft, began pumping and sucking the tip. Andre whimpered and couldn't help but thrust his hips more. But in his anxiousness he threw off her rhythm. Xandri grabbed his butt cheeks, held him still and continued until she felt those cheeks tighten. Which only meant one thing: he was about to climax. He wanted to pull out and let go on her chest but she refused to let him. She surprised him by taking it all. And she didn't need a bib. When she was done, she leaned back on her arms, crossed her legs and smiled at him.

Andre stood there sort of dumbfounded. He didn't expect that at all. His own wife didn't do that. How was he supposed to feel?

"Wow. You went from not wanting to do anything to doing _that_?"

"It's one night right?"

"So far, yes."

"Ok then." Xandri looked him up and down. "And who knew you'd turn out to extend your sexiness?"

"Yeah, but the real question is why do you still have clothes on?" She looked down at her nightshirt. "Let me help you with that." It was his turn to take her shirt off. He pulled it off and threw it on the bed behind her. He looked at her breasts and smiled. "Still full and beautiful." Andre let his fingers trail up from her legs to the left breast, caressed it then leaned down to kiss her. By leaning in he indicated that he wanted her to lay down. As she did, he uncrossed her legs to allow him some room.

He started with a kisses to the valley between her breasts. He moved the left breast, swiping his tongue across and feeling it perk up immediately. Xandri's moans encouraged him as he sucked. Sucking the right breast made her back arch from the pleasure. His teeth tugged at each one, remembering to be gentle.

"Back in the day I used to pretend that your nipples tasted like the little chocolate nibs they resemble," which made her giggle.

"I never knew that." He reached up to kiss her.

"Yes, made more sense when you wore that vanilla scented lotion."

"Mmmm...I bet..." Andre started kissing his way down to her stomach, dipping his tongue in her bellybutton and softly nipping at her skin, especially along the top of her panties. As he kneeled he said,

"I'm just gonna go ahead and remove these." She lifted up her hips to assist him. He smiled and immediately nuzzled his nose in her soft curly hair.

"Andre!" He loved that. Rhonda didn't like hair there. To her, bald was better. But he _**loved**_ slipping his hand into Xandri's panties back in the day and feeling the silkiness. He feigned innocence.

"What?"

"Oh my goodness."

"Keep saying that if you want, if you can." He said as he placed her legs on his shoulders.

"What do you mean 'if I can'?"

I'm about to make you speechless."

"Oh I don't...know about...that..." Xandri's words disappeared as Andre began to kiss those special lips as if he were kissing the ones on her face. His tongue traced the outer lips between those kisses. Then his tongue began to dance with her clit as if it were her tongue participating in the kisses. One slow lick up and back down had her climaxing quick. Her favorite was when he sucked on it like a lollipop while inserting his fingers. Her body would be twitching, hands grabbing the sheets (if she could), and her toes curling uncontrollably. And the orgasms would often run into each other. Good thing Andre remembered that. Four orgasms later she was pushing his head away and closing her legs.

"What's wrong?" he asked looking up at her. "That was one of our favorite things. I love tasting you." She was breathless and her body was tingling all over.

"I know, but I can't handle anymore. Oh my god!" Andre shook his head and laughed at her.

"We still had two left to go to keep the record going."

"I know, I know. I just can't."

"I know one thing that _hasn't_ changed."

"And what's that?" she asked as she sat up.

"The sound of you letting go pulling that invisible string inside my body that brings me back to full erection." And she could see the evidence. "You're right here at the edge of the bed and I could just pound you like crazy."

"Um, no sir. We only have one night so we're doing this my way. Come here." she beckoned with her finger. As he brought his face closer she kissed him and licked her essence from his lips. She loved doing that. "Nothing fast tonight."

"Yes ma'am. Now let me find my pants." She pointed to the left side of the bed.

"For?"

"Protection." He took a six pack roll of condoms from his wallet.

"You sure brought a lot of condoms."

"A lot can happen in one night." He said winking. Then he tore one off and threw the rest onto the bed. She watched him open the condom and put it on as she scooted back towards the middle of the bed, legs spread eagle for him. Once he was covered, Andre crawled across the foot of the bed to where she was, kissing her from legs to lips.

She wrapped her arms around his waist as they kissed. The heat from his body brought back so many memories. Whether they were on top of the covers or buried underneath, the skin to skin contact always felt amazing. Xandri gently scraped her nails on his sides and back making him press his body closer to her in response. Andre raised himself up to begin teasing her with the tip of his penis, rubbing it against her clit and playing in her wetness.

"Andre, why are you teasing the both of us? Come on now."

"Are you ready for me?" She looked him straight in the eye and he knew his answer. More than ready, he slowly entered her body. Xandri gasped as her body tried to get used to the feel of him again; his length and girth. After all, it had been ten years. And it was the same for him. Her grip and warmth drew him in, overwhelming him with memories. Andre sighed at the feeling and placed his head right between her breasts. "Oh my god...I've waited **forever** to feel this Xandri..."

"I know baby; me too."

"You feel so good..." he started to move slowly causing both of them to moan. The slow grind was one of their favorite parts of making love. Xandri would wrap her legs around his waist, Andre would go as deep as he could, and he would rock her body with his strokes.

"Mmmm...right there...yes...ohhh..." she whispered. Andre could feel her heels digging into his buttocks and her nails in his arms. He changed his rhythm and soon the soft sound of skin against skin filled the bedroom. That first orgasm ripped through her body, her inner muscles massaging him with every squeeze. Their lips found each other, kissing until the need for air forced them apart.

More kisses to her body were applied followed by words whispered into her skin. At first Xandri wasn't sure what she heard, if anything. Between moans, sighs, kisses and her own orgasms it could've all been gibberish. She didn't want to break the mood by asking so she hoped whatever it was that Andre would say it again. She didn't have to wait long.

Andre reached for her hand and kissed it. "_N__zuri simba_ _jike_ {Beautiful lioness}." Her eyes shot open at the sound of those words. She hadn't heard them in over ten years. She remembered how she felt when he said them...it set her insides a flame. Just like now. Andre looked into her eyes and smiled. "_Upendo wangu_ {My love}."

The former lovers had a lot of classes they had to take for business degrees, foreign languages being some of them. French, Spanish and German were the basics. But Swahili they learned for fun, for intimate times. There was a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the History department with an emphasis in African-American Studies. He was trying to get the University to add a few new classes: Swahili, African-American History and African-American Literature. He thought that if a substantial amount of students would take interest in the subjects by joining a club, maybe the classes could be added.

It was hard at first to learn it, but it was something they wanted to do. After learning the basics they started writing down phrases and words they wanted to know. Lioness was one of those words. Andre was a Lyon; he was in love with Xandri and saw her as his queen, his lioness. It was a creative way for the two of them to create pet names and have conversations without people getting into their business. Her favorite for him was simply, _S__imba_ {lion}. Of course there was some teasing from friends because of the movie but Xandri didn't care. At the least, it represented his name. At the most, it described exactly who he was: strong, ruler, leader, wise, protector.

"_M__falme wa moyo wangu_ {King of my heart}." she whispered. Andre's heart fluttered and an awesome overwhelming feeling washed over him, almost like confirmation of an answer that he'd been looking for: this is exactly where he needed to be. His heart was safe with her.

"You remembered."

"How could I forget? _F__uraha ya moyo wangu_ {My heart's joy}." Those words fueled his passion. And it ignited their bodies. Words and feelings mixed with physical actions brought them completely over the edge. A breathless, panting, and blissful Xandri held Andre closer to her. It was then she felt wetness on her chest wasn't from their sweat. It was tears. "Andre?" He looked up and she was correct; tears were streaming down his face. "Are you ok? What's wrong?" He modded his head.

"I'm fine. I feel _so_ safe right here, right now with you. For once everything _feels so right_. And the only thing that's wrong that we can't experience this everyday."

"Oh baby..."

"_I love you Xandri_. And I want to be with you. I **need** to be with you. _U__salama_ (Safety)."

"_N__diyo _{Yes}."

Rhonda opened her eyes because she heard Andre's voice. She thought he might be on the phone but she didn't hear it ring. She turned over expecting to see him sitting up and talking, but he was lying with his back to her and his hand was frantically moving inside his pajama pants. He was moaning and whispering in a language that she didn't recognize. Rhonda wasn't sure what was going on.

"_Ninakupenda_ {I love you}Xandri, _Ninakupenda_." She definitely perked up when she heard Xandri's name mentioned.

"He's saying her name in his sleep? And she **swore** they weren't sleeping together!" Rhonda looked at her husband in disgust. She didn't know whether to shake him awake or just push him onto the floor.

"_Nzuri simba_ _jike, nzuri simba_ _jike..."_

"What in the hell is he saying?!" She reached for her phone to record the words, hoping to look them up later.

"_Usalama...Usalama..."_

"I don't understand this." Andre moved as if he was going to turn over on his back and Rhonda quickly turned away from him, listening to what he was doing. He did turn to lay on his back and his still moving left hand made the covers move. A few minutes later he woke with a start, eyes wide open. It took him a few seconds to recognize where he was. The moonlight was supposed to come in from the right and not the left like it had been. And the light were off. He and Xandri keep the lights on while they...then he hit him that he was at home and not with Xandri. Looking to his left and seeing his wife's silouette instead of Xandri's saddened him.

Andre sighed a frustrated, disappointed sigh. He glanced at the clock and it was almost 4:30 a.m., the time he usually woke up. He started to reach across his body to turn off the alarm on his phone but couldn't because it and his pajama pants covered with semen. So he carefully tossed the covers back with his right hand, akwardly sat up and turned off his phone's alarm. He stood up and proceeded to hobble to the bathroom trying to keep what was in his underwear from running down his leg. He leaned against the bathroom door, hoping he didn't wake Rhonda. Little did he know she was already fuming at him, wondering how to take care of the situation.

He disrobed and realized that he was about to do something he had never done before: rinse out his underwear and pajama pants. He was sure their housekeeper Monica would still have questions in her mind when she did laundry in a few days but maybe she would have less if there wasn't much evidence left. Seeing Xandri really had done a number on him. Even now after that dream, he was still hard and craving her touch. Andre hoped a shower would help calm him down. Instead the warm water just reminded him of Xandri's warmth- her warm embrace, her body heat, her warm caring heart. His hand found it's way back between his legs, washing ribbons of his essence down the drain with the spray from the shower, twice. He was so engaged in what he was feeling that he had to open his eyes a few times just to make sure Rhonda wasn't taking advantage of him in this vulnerable state. If she had, it wouldn't have been the first time.

The morning sunrise found Andre sitting in one of the sitting rooms with a cup of coffee, writing. He startled Carl when he arrived to work because no one was ever moving around that part of the house that time of morning. By the time Rhonda came downstairs, Andre was sitting in the dining room eating and still writing. Still seething from what she heard, she barely wanted to speak to him.

"Good morning." Andre said as she poured herself a cup of coffee. Her reply was short but not quite curt.

"Hi." Carl set a bowl of fruit and a glass of juice in front of her as she gave him her request for an omlette.

"I didn't hear you come in last night. How was the uh...secret fashion show?"

"It was very nice. I'm glad I went." Andre looked up from what he was writing hoping to engage her in conversation about the previous day's events, but she as already checking her email on her tablet. And he could tell by the tone in her voice that she wasn't in the mood to talk.

"So what's on your agenda for today?"

"A couple of meetings, not sure what else." Carl set her omlette in front of her and took Andre's empty plate away.

"Everything ok?" She looked over at him.

"Yes. Why do you ask?" He shrugged.

"You seem a little...tense. That's all." She shook her head, hoping to wave off his concerns. She wasn't ready to confront him about his nighttime activity yet.

"I might've a little more to drink last night that I should've. A little tired. I'm fine." Andre nodded. He didn't really believe her though.

"Okay." He finished the last of his coffee. "I'm going to get dressed." and he left the dining room. Surprisingly, he left the the notepad that he was writing on. Curiosty getting the best of her, she glanced at what he'd written. She frowned when she realized that it wasn't in a language she understood.

"What the hell is this?" She quickly took a picture of it with her tablet. She stared at the words. A few of them looked like what she heard him say, but she wasn't sure. "I wish I knew what this was. And why he was saying it."

A few minutes later, Andre came back in, dressed handsomely as he always was. He grabbed the notepad, his tablet, and his phone.

"Well, I'm off to the office. Maybe I'll see you later?"

"Maybe."

"I hope you have a great day." he said kissing her forehead.

"Thank you. You too."

After he left, she looked at the photo she'd taken. The words were foreign, but his handwriting was impeccable. Romantic even. She just had to figure out what he'd written.

_**Yangu**__**Nzuri simba jike**_

_**Upendo wangu**_

_**Utamu yako uongo si**_

_**Kati ya mahali ambapo miguu yako sehemu**_

_**Lakini katika maarifa ya ubongo wako**_

_**Na joto la moyo wako**_

_**Kuna usalama katika upendo wako**_

**A/N2:** This took forever to write! Stay tuned for the translation.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** See intro.

**Warning:** See intro.

**A/N: **Hello to all my new followers. Glad to have you on this journey with me.I hope you enjoyed the last chapter. This one will be a long one, lots of conversations going on but it's all necessary for the storyline. I used Google Translate for the Swahili. As always read, review and recommend. Thanks.

Chapter 5

Andre made it to the office and the work day started like any day would. And even though his mother did a good job of hiding the previous day's events, he could feel the stares from the other employees. People that shouldn't have known anything other than Andre's name and position in the company, looked at him as if they had been in the office the entire time of his ordeal. Shaking it off and keeping things business as usual seemed a harder task that day than any other before.

Returning to his office from a meeting he asked Lisa what was next on his schedule. Her answer surprised him.

"You have a meeting- well more like a block of time- scheduled with Cookie."

"A block? I don't remember putting her on the schedule."

"You didn't. She sent me an email request."

"And how long is this block?"

"Four hours."

"Four hours? That seems a bit long." After a few seconds he thought it might have something to do with his father. "Let me see what she wants." He walked over to her office where he could see she was busy with paperwork and knocked on the open door.

"It's open." she replied.

"Yeah, because you left it wide open." She looked up from her desk. "Good thing you weren't doing anything embarrassing."

"Hey baby, how are you today?"

"Feeling better. Lisa said you have a four hour block of time scheduled for us. Did I miss something?" Cookie looked at her watch.

"Is it that time already?"

"Yes."

"Okay. You should go to your office and get your coat. I'm gonna run to the ladies' room and I'll meet you downstairs. Our car should be waiting for us."

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see. Meet you downstairs."

A few minutes later the two of them were waiting just outside of Empire's doors for their car to pull up. Being the gentleman that he was, Andre opened the car door for his mother, then he entered the other side.

"Do you know where we're going?" she asked, buckling her seat belt.

"No." Andre replied.

"Not you, our driver."

"Yes ma'am." The driver replied. "I don't think traffic will be a problem."

"That's good." The driver pulled off, Cookie crossed her legs and Andre noticed her footwear.

"Nice boots." She flexed her foot in the mocha colored boots.

"Thank you. I caught them on sale. I didn't want to pay three hundred for them but compared to what they were when I _first_ saw them I would have been a fool not to. So I bought two pair."

"Yeah, Rhonda has four of them and believe me she paid the entire full price."

"Well, I can't knock her style on these because they are great boots." They rode in silence for a few minutes before Andre began recognizing buildings.

"You never said where we were going."

"To see Dr. Morell."

"Dr. Morell? Ma, come on now."

"Don't you come on now me. Dr. Morell said he needed to see you within forty-eight hours and I said you'd be there if I had to bring you myself. So I am."

"You don't trust me to make me own appointment or go by myself?"

"Andre, I love you but no, I don't. I don't trust Rhonda to do it either. I was very serious when I said I need to make sure you're healthy. Being a CEO is a tough job and I want to make sure you can handle it if Lucious chooses you."

"Which I doubt he will."

"You never know son."

"He doesn't really care about me beyond making sure this IPO goes off without a hitch."

"Well, if your dad doesn't care, that's on him. He should and he knows he should. Being a parent doesn't stop when your children turn eighteen or twenty-one. It's ongoing; you'll always need advice. And I missed seventeen years with you and your brothers. I can't make up for that but there are things I can do now and in the future. I can't help but wonder how your lives would've turned out if I had been at home. You might not have married Rhonda. Hakeem would probably be with a woman his own age."

"Jamal might not be gay."

"Except that. That was gonna happen no matter what anybody did. But I think I could've helped your father accept it better."

"Somehow I doubt that." Cookie thought about it.

"Oh who am I kidding? I doubt it too."

Andre heard his phone buzz and he pulled it out of his inside suit pocket to see what the message was. As he did a folded piece of paper fell out and landed on the seat. Cookie picked it up to hand it back to him and glanced at it as it opened a little. She was taken aback by what she saw. He reached for it.

"Thank you. Didn't know what was gonna fly out." He said clearly in a nervous voice. She started to hand it to him but held onto it.

"This handwriting looks kinda fancy son. Who did you write this for?"

"Come on mom."

"_And_ it's in a different language? What is it? I don't know a lot about languages but I _know_ I don't recognize this one."

"It's Swahili. And it doesn't matter who I wrote it for; I haven't decided it I'm going to send it."

"Swahili? When did you learn that? That doesn't seem like a language for a business degree."

"It's not, not one of the normal business languages anyway, but I learned it in school." Cookie gave him a little side eye as she started to hand it over.

"And why aren't you going to send it? You obviously spent time on it for someone special..." and then it dawned on her. "Did you write this for Xandri?" Andre closed his eyes at being found out by his mother. "You _**did**_ write this for her!" He sighed.

"_Yes_, I did. I was going to send it to her along with her favorite flowers. To thank her for coming to see me yesterday."

"Oh Andre, that's so sweet." She smiled at the fact that she knew exactly why he was sending it. Saying "thank you" was a good cover but she knew better. She held the note out for him to take.

"Thank you but I might not send the flowers or the note."

"Oh why not? Unless..." he looked at his mother and she held the note closer to her. "...unless this _isn't_ a thank you note." Her son sighed deeply, wanting to bury his head in his hands as well as the conversation.

"It's not," Cookie's mouth dropped open. "which is why I wrote it in Swahili. We learned it together, for us. Xandri's the only one who would understand the sentiment and meaning in the words. She's the only one I could've written those words for."

"You don't think she deserves to hear them, whatever they are?"

"She does, there's just a lot consequences and repercussions behind it if I do."

"I see." The car stopped in front of a building.

"We're here." the driver declared. Andre looked out of the window, dreading going in.

"You ready?" Cookie asked.

"No, but I guess I don't have a choice do I?"

"Nope." They both got out of the car and headed up to Dr. Morell's office.

After stepping into the office, Andre checked in with the receptionist. Cookie found them two seats and sat down. It was nothing like the therapist's office in the prison. For one, it had windows with views. Albeit it was mostly of the buildings across the street but views nonetheless. There was warm nice plush carpet on the floor, not cold hard tile. The seats were cushy and clean not hard plastic with non-removable stains. There were updated magazines and plenty of pamphlets to read. The office was brightly painted and lit in such a way that it made a person feel comfortable in expressing their feelings. She never wanted to talk to the prison therapists; none of the inmates did. They never seemed like they wanted to help or listen. Hired Help was what the inmates used to call them. Their degrees hung on the walls but they meant nothing. Many times the inmates felt better after talking to each other than any of the hired help. Cookie hoped Dr. Morell was more caring than that. Her son's life was at stake.

Andre took off his coat and sat next to his mother.

"Penny for your thoughts?" he asked her. She looked at him and laughed a little.

"I remember a time when I used to ask _you_ that. You used to say 'add ninety-nine and you're in business'." They laughed. "You were always thinking of ways to get money, how to manage money."

"I guess it started early and made a way for me."

"Yes it did. I'm very proud of you, you know." She patted his hand. "Even if Lucious hadn't made it big, I think you would have found a way to go to school, get out of the hood and more importantly stay out of the hood."

"Probably." Andre got quiet a moment. "I would've come back to get you though."

"Me? Why just me?"

"Not just you; Hakeem and Jamal too. Ma, I could tell as a child that you and dad wouldn't always be together. I knew some of what you did for him, for us. I tried to protect Jamal and Hakeem as much as I could. They were too young to see how it wore you down, but I could see it." Cookie hung her head at the thought of what her children had seen when they were too little to understand. "I wanted to get all of us out of there; leave dad right where he was. Miserable and alone."

"I don't know that I would've been able to leave your father. We were so young and he was all I knew."

"I know. I was just as devastated as you were when he sent the divorce papers. He tried to hide it but I found out. There was a time when I wanted us to stay a family, be a better family. But after I saw the way he treated you, throwing you away like...like..." Andre paused as his emotions caught in his throat. Cookies eyes misted as her son showed this depth of emotion and she held his hand. "I've learned a lot of things about my father these last twelve to fifteen years of my life. I'm not proud of most of my discoveries. That's a difficult task I have to deal with and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. But I need you to do me favor." he said. Cookie looked her son in the eye.

"What's that?"

"_**Please**_ don't let him back into _you_\- your heart, your head **or** your bed. That connection is strong between the two of you and I don't want you getting hurt again. It wouldn't be fair and after all you've been through for him, it just wouldn't be right."

"Thank you for looking out for me son."

"Somebody has to. When you start to let your heart feel again, he's gonna get jealous. He's gonna feel like no man will ever be better for you than him and he's gonna do whatever he can to stop that man."

"What will it matter? The ALS is gonna take him out of here in a while anyway."

"Because I don't think _you_ can wait that long." Cookie looked at him in surprise.

"Andre what are you talking about?"

"I've seen the way you look at a certain...ahem... head of security." he hinted then she playfully slapped his arm.

"I have not!" she laughed. Andre gave his mother the side eye then smirked.

"HmmMmm. Tell that lie to whoever is willing to listen 'cause I don't wanna hear it."

"Excuse me **Mr. MBA** are you using _my_ own parenting reasoning against me?"

"If it's working, then yes." They were laughing at each other when a nurse came in the waiting room to lead Andre back to see the doctor. He stood expecting his mother to come with him. "Aren't you coming?"

"Oh no baby. I brought enough stuff to keep me busy. This is your conversation with Dr. Morell. If you need me, just come get me. Otherwise, I'll be right here when you're done."

"Okay." and he followed the nurse back. Cookie said a silent prayer that her son would be open with the doctor and say everything he needed to say.

Cookie had been sitting in the waiting room learning how to work her tablet better. The technology that developed while she was in prison amazed her. She figured out how to text and make cell phone calls pretty easily. Computers and tablets were a different story but she was learning. Today she was figuring out how to read and edit documents on it. Not the easiest thing. Listening to music and watching videos was a breeze. Jamal downloaded a program that allowed her to make edits to music, save it and send the file back. She liked that she didn't _have_ to be in the studio all the time to make music. Sometimes the inspiration hit in the middle of the night about how a song should be or could be arranged.

She had been working for a while and hadn't noticed the time. Andre had been back with Dr. Morell for nearly an hour and a half. She hoped what was a good thing. Meanwhile she needed the ladies room and to stretch her legs. The receptionist showed her where to go and as she was washing her hands she could hear her phone buzz. She mentioned to the receptionist that she was stepping into the hallway to make a phone call, in case Andre was done and looking for her. Cookie dialed the last number that called her. Lucious was on the other end.

"You rang?"

"Quit with the attitude Cookie. Yes I did. Have you seen Andre?"

"Yes, he's here with me. What do you need?"

"I need **him**, here. Where are you?"

"No can do. We're at Dr. Morell's office and he's in there talking with him."

"Dr. Morell? What the hell is doing over there?!"

"Dr. Morell needed to evaluate him before he could refill or change any of his medications."

"Cookie all you're doing is enabling him. I need him here, right now. You get him out of there and back in this office **right. damn. NOW!**"

"I will do **no** **such** **thing** Lucious Lyon! You are at the point of trying to decide which one of your sons to leave your company to and you know good and damn well Andre needs to be stable enough to do that."

"Hell if the boy ain't stable, he ain't stable!"

"**You** need to give him a fighting chance! Let him get his mind straight and present the best part of himself. Fair is fair Lucious. **Fair is fair.**"

"You get him back here." And before she could respond he hung up on her.

"Oh my **god** I could strangle him!" She took a few cleansing breaths before entering the office again and wondering if she should make an appointment for herself.

Thirty minutes later Andre emerged from his conversation with the doctor and had the paperwork that Cookie needed to sign to be added to Andre's case. After signing she had the chance to look at her son. His eyes were a little puffy and his nose sounded like he was stopped up; she could tell that he had been crying. She hoped it had been a good conversation. She didn't expect him to tell her anything though. That might be too much too soon.

"All set?" she asked.

"I've given my blood work, I have my new prescriptions and next appointment. So I'm good. Did I miss anything at the office?"

"Just your father having a fit because you weren't there when he was looking for you."

"Maybe we should head back."

"No, not yet."

"But you said-"

"Your father would have a fit if the sun decided to shine when the weatherman said it would rain. He'll be alright. We still have time on the schedule."

"Okay. Where to next?"

"Lunch. I have an awesome place in mind."

"Lead the way."

When the driver stopped in front of the restaurant Cookie had given him the address to, Andre was surprised. He was expecting to have lunch at a five star restaurant that he was used to eating in, but not this place. It looked like the worse diner in the world. Oddly enough it smelled amazing. Cookie looked at the expression on her son's face and laughed a little.

"What?"

"_This_ is where you picked to have lunch?"

"Don't give me that look. You haven't even been in there yet. Can you agree to give it a chance? It's not what it seems but I _guarantee_ you won't be disappointed." Andre gave her a sideways look as he opened the door for her.

"If you say so."

As they entered they were greeted warmly by the hostess and Cookie requested a table for two. It didn't really matter where they sat; the diner was pretty empty.

"If this place is so good then where are all the customers?" he asked.

"Oh, you just missed our lunch crowd." the hostess replied. "It takes us a few hours to recuperate for the dinner crowd. But don't you worry, we've got you taken care of."

"Thank you." Cookie replied as the menus were placed on the table.

"Can I get you anything to drink while you're settling in?"

"Sweet iced tea please."

"Make it two." Andre replied.

"Coming right up."

"See? I told you this place wasn't what it seemed. _And_ you have to agree that it smells great in here. There's just something about onions and peppers cooking on a grill."

"I was expecting a higher class of restaurant."

"I know you're used to the finer things in life now but every once in a while you need a little soul food, a little grease to fill up the empty places after spilling your emotions."

"So this is the equivalent of pigging out on junk food after a good cry?"

"Something like that." They started looking at the menu. It was the basic diner menu seen in every diner, anywhere in America: patty melts, Salisbury steak with mashed potatoes and gravy, fried chicken, chicken fried steak, tuna noodle casserole, etc.

"So what's good here?"

"I heard the onion rings are to die for."

"Fried food? Yeah, I bet they are."

"Oh come on, enjoy life a little, have some with me. You'll just work it off tomorrow."

"Probably." Their waitress brought their iced teas and asked if they were ready to order.

"I know I want a large plate of onion rings." The waitress wrote it down.

"You're not gonna eat those all by yourself are you?"

"Of course not son! We'll share them. And I think I want one of those juicy bacon double cheeseburgers. Oh well done please. Haven't had a good one in a long time. It's gonna be sooo good."

"Are you _trying_ to give yourself a heart attack?"

"Noooo. What's wrong with a bacon double cheeseburger?"

"Take your pick- the **four** pieces of bacon or the **two** cheeseburgers?"

"Argh, come on Andre!" The waitress was getting a kick out of the two of them.

"Do you have a healthy alternative?" he asked her.

"We have veggie burgers." They both shook their heads no to that suggestion. "You can do a turkey burger or salmon burger." Cookie turned her face up at those choices too.

"Salmon burger?"

"Actually a salmon burger sound delicious. It will help balance out the onion rings."

"But _salmon_? You can't put cheese on that!"

"You could, might not be as delicious though." The waitress suggested.

"What about the turkey burger? Maybe you could try that."

"Can I get it with cheese?" The waitress nodded.

"Yes."

"But you don't _need_ the cheese ma."

"But I _want_ the cheese son. _And_ the bacon. And what about my calcium intake? I'm a little older now, you know I need that." Andre laughed.

"Then order a milkshake. If we're having onion rings, you should only have one, bacon or cheese." Cookie pouted a little.

"I can **not** believe I'm having a conversation like this with you."

"Reminiscent of you trying to get me to eat broccoli huh?"

"Exactly!" They both laughed.

"Come on mom order, I'm hunnnnngry."

"Okay, okay. Cheese or bacon, cheese or bacon?" Andre picked up the menus and handed them to the waitress.

"I'll have the salmon burger, well. No ketchup, lite tarter sauce. She'll have **the** _turkey_ burger _with_ cheese..." Cookie smiled. "and _**one**_ slice of bacon. And large onion rings to split."

"Okay, coming right up."

"Yay, cheese and bacon."

"You are too funny." Andre replied. He took a few sips of his tea and looked at his mother. "Okay, go ahead and ask your questions."

"What questions?"

"About my session with Dr. Morell."

"Oh, that. I figured if there was anything I needed to know that you would tell me when you're ready. I'm not that concerned about it as long as you're talking and going through the process."

"Cool. So what should we talk about? How do we get reacquainted with each other?"

"Good question. Let's start with my daughter-in-law Rhonda. I've missed out on your whole relationship. I have no guide to go by in getting to know her. So help me out. Help me get to know your wife."

"What do you want to know?"

"What do I need to know? What did her parents think of you? I can't imagine that her gun toting Texas family was too accepting of this black boy from Philly that was coming to marry their little girl."

"They weren't. They didn't really accept me, at first. Probably still don't. Rhonda was grown so there wasn't much they could say about her life; she was doing what she wanted anyway. She had a few scholarships from her beauty pageants but she funded her own way into school. She doesn't go back unless she has to and they don't venture to come up this way. Every once in a while they meet somewhere in the middle. A couple of checks a month and everything is alright between them."

"Do they even talk?"

"I guess so. I'm not privy to those conversations though."

"Interesting. I know she has book smarts but what a mother _really_ needs to know if the girl her son is marrying can take care of him. 'Cause you know men tend to marry women who are like their mothers."

"Really?"

"Really."

"I didn't know that."

"So tell me what do Rhonda and I have in common besides being women? Does she cook?" Andre made a face. "Oh, Andre I don't like that face."

"Well...sort of."

"Sort of? Describe sort of." Andre had to really think of the last thing Rhonda cooked. "Wow, has it been that long?"

"Yes."

"Andre! Okay, easier question _can _she cook? Can she at least boil water?"

"Yes, she can boil water, for her tea. She can make eggs, toast, saute vegetables, sandwiches, cocktails. Anything more than that our chef does. Well, she did manage a roasted chicken once."

"Was it good?"

"The roasted potatoes were better." Cookie tried not to laugh. "Hey, I said she cooked it; never said it was edible."

"Do you ever cook? Do you remember how?"

"Yes, I remember. Sometimes I do cook. Never anything big though."

"Can she clean and sew?"

"Clean- yes. Sew- she knows what needs to be done like for the clothing line but I've never seen her actually sew anything. If anything needs fixing she sends it to the tailor."

"Of course she does."

"That's just how we are."

"I see." Their waitress brought their food to the table. The scent of the onion rings made Cookie smile. "Man this is gonna be so good. Make sure you try it without the ketchup first." After a couple of rings Andre had to agree that they were very delicious.

"Try your turkey burger and tell me what you think." Cookie took a bite of it and was pleasantly surprised. "See?"

"Okay, it's not so bad. Could use a little more bacon though. But it's good."

"I knew you would like it."

"Now back to our conversation, tell me how you and Rhonda met and what made you want to be with her instead of Xandri."

"Well," he said as his wiped ketchup from his mouth. "we were all accounting/business majors so we were always in and out of class together, hanging around the library and whatnot. Xandri and I met freshman year and hit it off immediately. But something changed after two years; I know now it was me. Rhonda had always been around so it's not like she came out of nowhere, but she caught me on a day that I wasn't feeling...myself. And I saw her in a different light. It was like she grabbed all of my attention and sucked me in."

"That's an interesting way of putting it."

"That's what it felt like. But it was a different kind of fall, not at all like falling in love with Xandri. That was beautiful and natural. And deep; loving Xandri was deep. I guess you could say I fell hard for Rhonda. She convinced me that I needed her, that we needed each other. I got my diagnosis soon after we were together. We'd made it through school, grad school and I figured if she'd stuck with me that long that maybe I should marry her. So we got married."

"It all sounds so...compartmentalized. What attracted you to her?" Andre thought about it. Things had changed so much between them he was pretty sure his original reasons had changed.

"She has an amazing ability to focus, great attention to detail. Rhonda has a great personality once you get to know her. She's strong, brave, consistent. It's hard to describe what I feel for her."

"Do you love her?" Knowing what she had seen in his office, she just had to ask him that.

"She's my wife. What kind of question is that?"

"A damn good one, I think. And one you didn't answer."

"Yes, I love Rhonda; she's my wife."

"What do you love most about her?" He shrugged.

"I don't know, there's so much. Her commitment to me, her beauty, her wisdom." Cookie took another bite of her turkey burger trying to think of a positive response. It wasn't coming.

"And Xandri?"

"What about Xandri?"

"What did you love about her?" Andre couldn't answer without smiling.

"Xandri is awesome in the way she cares about people."

"She's the shirt-off-her-back kinda girl huh?"

"Yes and more. See, she's the beyond the moment type of person who would give you the shirt off her back but she would also take you shopping because she knows you would need clothes for the next few days and weeks. And she would also buy you clothes because she knows they could increase your confidence in yourself." Cookie took note of his attitude change.

"Anything else?"

"Xandri has the _prettiest eyes_, and this walk and curves that guys just wanted to touch. Her smile would make the most hostile environment feel like home. She's so easy to talk to because she listens, not just hear you but _really_ listens. And she has this huge heart that just _radiates_ love, honesty, loyalty, good vibes and warmth. Xandri's just good people, absolutely beautiful inside and out. You always need someone like her in your corner." Andre tired to contain his smile but it was a futile attempt.

"So why didn't you marry her instead?" That caught him off guard.

"Huh?"

"I wish I had my camera rolling while you were describing Xandri. Because it's **clear** to me that she's the one you love."

"What? Mom you haven't been listening. Rhonda is my wife."

"Oh I've _been_ listening baby; I heard _everything_ you said, but your face is telling me **exactly** how you feel. I wish you could see your facial expressions. You are so stoic and serious when you talk about Rhonda. But Xandri? Oh your eyes light up like the sun outside." Andre shook his head, trying to tell his mother that she was wrong. "You're gushing and blushing _all over_ Xandri! HmmMmm that's right, **blush-ing**. Your cheeks are as red as the ketchup on this plate."

"Ma..."

"Come on now. If we're being honest here, let's be honest. You still have serious feelings for Xandri don't you? After all these years?"

"How do you have this uncanny ability to _know_ all this stuff?"

"I'm your mother baby. Mothers _**always**_ know. I _know_ you're married to Rhonda, you _say_ she's your wife but every single thing about you is professing love for Xandri." He sighed and realized there was no way of getting around this.

"I do still have feelings for Xandri. As much as we've kept in touch over the years and her still being my go to person, I haven't been able to completely let her go."

"Has she been able to let you go?"

"Yes, at least I think so. She's been in relationships and was even engaged."

"What happened?"

"Her best friend Noelle was home sick and like any good friend Xandri decided to bring her some soup, medicine, and juice. She had a key and when she entered the apartment she heard Noelle grunting and thought she might have been throwing up in the bathroom."

"She wasn't throwing up?"

"Far from it. Noelle was grunting because she was riding Reverse Cowgirl on Xandri's fiance Jordan, who was supposed to be out of town on a business trip. She ran out of there so fast that she didn't have time to close the door."

"Oh my god!"

"Yeah, they were just about to send out their wedding invitations too. I was her shoulder to cry on that time. Rhonda wasn't happy about that but Xandri was a friend in need. As much as she had been there for me how could I not return the favor?"

"Is she seeing anyone now?"

"Not that she's mentioned. I guess she needed some time. They had been together for a long time. Over two years."

"So how did he take her helping you while they were together?"

"As far as I know, he didn't have any problems with it."

"Hmmm."

"What?"

"I was just wondering if that had anything to do with his cheating on her?"

"I doubt it. If a man wants to stray, he's gonna stray."

"And have you strayed? With Xandri?" Andre started to speak then stopped. "Is the question that hard to answer?"

"It's not just what I answer, it's how I answer it. A part of me has always kept Xandri in my heart. And there was a time, before she met Jordan and after, that I honestly tried to rekindle things between us."

"I see that didn't work."

"No, but what's so scary is that it almost did."

"What?!"

"The day before my wedding to Rhonda, I went to Xandri's apartment. It wasn't even the middle of the night, early evening. I went there _specifically_ to have my one last fling. She didn't know that. She let me in because I told her that I was getting cold feet and I needed her to encourage me. I was completely sober and in my right mind."

"That was debatable."

"I know and I can't believe I'm telling you this. We started kissing and things almost got away from us; we were just a couple pieces of clothing from being naked. I asked her to be with me one last time and she said she 'I can't'. I wanted to ask her why but I knew the answer; we both did. If we had made love that night it would've resulted in Rhonda being stood up at the altar. If we had, I wouldn't have wanted to leave the following morning."

"Are you serious?" Andre nodded. "Wow."

"So Xandri made me leave and I left without complaining. Rhonda and I were married. Months had passed before I needed to call her about anything that was going on with me but nothing changed between us. She was still my voice of reason; I just knew where the line was. That night was the last time I had kissed her until she left Jordan. I guess it had been about six or seven months after they broke up and I called just to check on her. I went to her apartment and she was doing well. She had been on a few dates set up by friends and family but she didn't click with any of the guys. And I thought I'd try my luck again. It was like we'd never left each other. The passion was **overwhelming**. I asked her to be a more intimate part of my life. And before she could protest, I told her there was a way we could get around Rhonda and everything was going to be just fine. Xandri made it _**very**_ clear that after what she had been through with Jordan that she wasn't going to share. It was all or nothing." Cookie scratched her head and frowned.

"I know I'm going to regret asking this but... what was the way around Rhonda?" Andre hung his head and tried to collect himself.

"I can't believe I'm going to tell you this either but here goes...Rhonda and I have an open relationship of sorts." Cookie's eyes opened as large as they could at those words. Then she shook her head, telling herself that she didn't just hear Andre say that.

"I'm sorry. Did I just hear you say... that _you_ _**and**_ _your wife_ have an **open relationship**?"

"Of sorts."

"Of sorts?! Does that make a difference?"

"Well, yes."

"And just so I'm clear... an open relationship means you give _each other_ **permission** to sleep with other people?"

"Yes." Cookie sat back against her chair and folded her arms in front of her. She had heard a lot of things, but never expected to hear this from someone she knew, especially one of her own children. "We have rules. And our rules are a little different than most couples who have open relationships."

"Okay I think we're getting into the TMI realm here. TMI is the correct phrase right?"

"Yes it is. But a part of us getting reacquainted means we talk about our lives." She steadied herself.

"Proceed."

"Our rules are that one, we have to do a background check on anyone that we bring in. I mean full Federal background check- warrants, felonies, everything. Two, we both have to decide on the person or persons. Doesn't matter where we meet them, if one of us or both of us is uncomfortable, it's a no go. Third, we don't bring them to our home or go to theirs. We agree on a neutral space. There are a couple of luxury hotels and spa resorts that we like, particularly for their discretion. And fourth, there are no strings attached. Everything is for pleasure purposes only, nothing emotional." Cookie was shocked.

"This is a real thing?"

"Yea. Obviously we don't tell everyone because not everyone will understand."

"I see why because **I** don't understand."

"And we're careful about where we go. We don't go to swingers clubs because you never know who's there. No chat rooms, no conventions. We choose invite only parties."

"And this...this actually turns you on?"

"Sometimes." Andre watched his mother's eyes widen again. "We don't always have sex. Being a voyeur is nice. I like to watch my wife be fluid."

"Uh oh, new terminology again."

"Sometimes seeing my wife have her fantasies fulfilled _is_ the turn on. I don't have a desire to be with men; Jamal can keep that. But there are times that Rhonda's satisfaction can only come from another woman. I like to see her reaction when she's with a her. Or a him. Seeing her with a man who does something different than I do... to see her reaction is hot." Cookie drank her tea, wondering if the diner could make it a Long Island Iced Tea. She was definitely going to need a drink when she got home.

"Oh my god."

"I know it's shocking to hear but that's the way we are."

"I hear you saying this but all I _really_ hear is, you and your wife are saying that neither of you are enough."

"What do you mean?"

"If this was a few times a year thing, it wouldn't bother me. But this sounds like you do this **all the** **time**. And to _me_, it says that what goes on in your bedroom, isn't enough to keep you there. You're not satisfied. Like you're bored with your marriage."

"On the contrary I think it's does the opposite and brings excitement. But I can understand your point."

"And if you let someone, or people, come between the two of you there will _always_ be someone between the two of you. That can create unnecessary space. Do you know what I mean?"

"Yea, but that's why it works mom. There's no one between us, no emotions, no strings attached." And then it hit Cookie.

"Is that that real reason that you haven't invited Xandri in? Keep it honest with me."

"That and the fact that she's more _my_ type than Rhonda's. If our marriage was just one of convenience, I'm sure Xandri and I could work out an acceptable way for us to be together."

"But you're missing my point baby. If you'd rather be with _Xandri_ than _Rhonda_, then you need to rethink your marriage. Life is too short to spend it with the wrong people."

"I _love_ Rhonda."

"Who are you trying to convince, me or you?"

"Ma, I do love my wife."

"But you're _**in love**_ with Xandri. And son you're old enough to know the difference."

Lunch was over and Cookie was sitting at her desk playing parts of her and Andre's conversation over in her mind. What she'd heard was so off the wall that she didn't even know if she could confide in someone who didn't have a ton of degrees and a legal obligation to keep it quiet. Again, the thought crossed her mind about what her sons lives would have become if she had been there to raise them. Andre **definitely** wouldn't be with Rhonda. Their whole relationship was a disaster just waiting to happen. A huge one at that. And with them working together in the same company, it would be a small matter of time before their home problems became a part of company business. But she didn't know how to make him see that. In the meantime she was going to settle for the information on the note that he'd written for Xandri. The note that he didn't realize he'd left in the car. Or maybe Cookie strategically hid from him. She was going to give it back, when she was done with it. She looked up from her computer when she heard the knock on her open door.

"Come in." The handsome, smiling face of Malcolm Deveaux peeped in. "Hey Malcolm."

"Hey, I have those reports you asked for."

"Oh good. You can put them in that top tray right here." She looked back at the screen. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about this Google Translate would you? I figured out how to translate from English to another language but I'm not sure about the reverse." Malcolm walked behind the desk to to see her computer screen.

"I do. I wasn't aware that Empire that documents that needed translating. I might be able to translate it myself."

"As far as I know, the lawyers have a way to handle anything outside of the county." Cookie kind of lowered her voice. "Andre wrote a note for Xandri that he may or may not have left in the car when we were together. He told me earlier, when it fell out of his pocket that he'd written it in Swahili. And I thought I'd try to translate it before I returned it."

"Swahili huh? Interesting. Mind if I take a look at it?" She turned to look at him.

"_You_ speak Swahili?" Malcolm looked a the note.

"Well, I can't guarantee a fifteen minute conversation but I could get around a Swahili speaking region better than the average tourist."

"By all means, take a look."

"I'm surprised that this word didn't jump out at your first."

"Which one?" He pointed to what he was talking about.

"_Simba_."

"Is it supposed to mean something?"

"You don't know about _Simba_, from the movie 'The Lion King'?"

"No."

"You've never seen it?"

"Apparently not. What is it?"

"It's a Disney movie that came out about 1994. Simba is the main character and that in Swahili means 'lion'."

"Lion?"

"Yea, and if I remember my animals correctly _Simba Jinke_ means 'lioness'."

"Lion and lioness. Interesting." Malcolm pointed at another word.

"And I if remember my adjectives, _nzuri yangu_ means beautiful."

"So this first line says 'My Beautiful Lioness'?" Malcolm nodded.

"Very deep words."

"HmmMmm. Is there an easier way to translate this?" He looked at her printer to see if it was also a document scanner.

"Yes, we can scan this into a Word document, then cut and paste into the translator."

"Good let's try that." Malcolm took the note and starting scanning it.

"You know, if you're interested in knowing more about 'The Lion King' I'm pretty sure Jamal has the DVD he bought for Lola. I'm sure you can borrow it. You and Little Miss Lola can have a girls night in and watch it together. Or..."

"Or?" she asked giving him a flirty eye.

"_Or_, you and I can have an afternoon out by catching the matinee on Broadway one Sunday and dinner after." Cookie was quietly contemplating Malcolm's offer for a date, while conscientiously replaying Andre's words. Forget Lucious.

"An afternoon out sounds like a wonderful idea." They both smiled.

"Good, you let me know when you want to go and we will."

"Cool."

"Okay, I think this is ready. Take your mouse, highlight all the words, then right click to copy them." Cookie did. "And they you're going to paste them here," he said pointing the box. "and it should automatically detect the Swahili...which it is and just click translate."

_**Yangu**__**Nzuri simba jike**_

_**Upendo wangu**_

_**Utamu yako uongo si**_

_**Kati ya mahali ambapo miguu yako sehemu**_

_**Lakini katika maarifa ya ubongo wako**_

_**Na joto la moyo wako**_

_**Kuna usalama katika upendo wako**_

"Okay, clicking translate. Let's see what's on Andre's heart..."

_**My Beautiful lioness  
my love  
Your sweetness lies not  
Between where your foot part  
But in the knowledge of your brain  
And warm your heart  
There is safety in your love**_

"I think he meant that word to be 'legs' instead of 'foot'. Makes more sense that way."

"Yeah." Cookie leaned back in her chair. "Oh. my. God. I see what he meant by consequences and repercussions! He was completely honest with me at lunch; he _is_ in love with Xandri."

"He was gonna send _this_ to her?"

"Yes! At first he said it was a thank you note, for her coming to see him. But I definitely see that it's not. Rhonda would have a heart attack if she saw this!"

"So what are you gonna do?"

"His note, his feelings, his decision. I will return it though. I don't know what he's going to do. I don't even know what I'd do."

Cookie's day was almost done. She had one meeting left and then she could go home to have that drink. She arrived at Andre's office, hoping to speak to him but Lisa was the only one there.

"Hey Lisa, is Andre still in?"

"Sorry, he's gone for the evening. I was just heading out myself. Did you need anything?"

"No, just to leave this on his desk."

"Be my guest."

Cookie walked in and over to his desk. It was very neat and pristine. She placed the envelope right in the center, so he wouldn't miss it. Her words to her son?

"_**Andre,**_

_**My advice to you would be to send the note and let the chips fall where they may. I already told you how short life is. But these are your words, your feelings, your decision. I'll support you no matter what."**_

Cookie was sitting in her office waiting for her last meeting of the day, bracing herself for what was coming next. Rhonda came to the door and knocked. Her mother-in-law looked up and welcomed her in.

"Hey Rhonda, come on in and have a seat." She entered but stayed where she was.

"I'd prefer to stand. This shouldn't be long; our dealings in Empire don't usually cross." Cookie nodded because she knew it was true.

"Suit yourself," she replied as she stood. She took a stack of papers from the top tray on her desk. "May I see the call log on your phone please?" Rhonda was taken aback.

"My call log? Why?"

"I just need to check something." Rhonda unlocked her phone and showed Cookie the call log. "Could you scroll through your calls from yesterday?" Rhonda obliged. "Hmmm...just as I thought. You cleared your call log to erase your incoming calls."

"And?"

"Well, since you did, you erased all the evidence of us calling you yesterday."

"Who called me? You didn't call me."

"Oh yes I did. Take a look at this." Cookie handed her the papers Malcolm brought earlier. "Since your phone is Empire _issued_, it is also Empire _monitored_. Check out the highlighted portions." Rhonda looked at them and the smugness look on her face began to fall. "HmmMmm, take a good look. See the ones in pink are where I called you yesterday. And this one, this one indicates where I left you a message. The ones in green are when Malcolm, our head of security tried to called you. The ones in orange, came from Jamal's phone. And these in blue came from Andre's phone."

"Why did you call me from Andre's phone?"

"Well, we figured that if you weren't going to answer _our_ calls that you would at least answer one from your husband. See, Andre had a very serious episode yesterday."

"What? He didn't say anything!"

"Well you can take that up with him later. We were trying to find his medication but he had so many empty pill bottles in his desk that we didn't know which doctor to call. That's why we called you. Surely you would know who his current doctor is. Hakeem figured out his lock code and we called from his phone. The first time Kelly answered, she **refused** to give the phone to you **after** being told that it was a medical emergency and _then_ she hung up on me. That's this call right there. So I called right back and she let it ring." Rhonda was shaking her head, in disbelief but really trying to come up with an answer to refute the evidence.

"I...I...I don't..."

"Stop. Just stop." Cookie stood right in front of Rhonda's face. "I'm gonna tell you this, and you better listen to me _**real**_ good...yesterday was the **first** and **last** time that you will **EVER**, ignore a phone call from me. Do you understand? Business calls will come from my office. The only time I will **ever** call you on _your_ cell phone is on Andre's behalf. I wasn't there when you were dating or at your wedding, so right now Andre is the **only** thing _we_ have in common. Do you hear me?" Rhonda didn't like being put in her place but that's exactly where Cookie had put her.

"Yes, I do."

"Good. Now there is something else we need to discuss. You might want to sit down for this." Rhonda sat in the chair closet to her. "When Xandri was in the conference room with Lucious and I, she made a suggestion based on the message Andre left her. You didn't actually hear the message but you knew it was her calling back."

"And she suggested what?"

"That as soon as the IPO is done, Andre needs to check himself into a mental health facility. Lucious and I agree."

"What? Are you serious? Andre doesn't need a facility, he just needs to ta-"

"Take his meds? That's what you were going to say weren't you? We both know if he was able to stay on his medication this conversation wouldn't exist. But since it does, he needs to do that. He needs the discipline and the psychotherapy."

"The psychotherapists haven't helped before."

"Maybe because he stopped going. But you knew that right? I took him to see Dr. Morell today and they talked for a long time, about an hour and a half."

"You took him? Why in the hell did you do that?" Cookie was beginning to see what Lucious was talking about. Rhonda may have been good for the company but she wasn't a good life partner for Andre.

"I took him because one, Dr. Morell wouldn't refill his prescriptions until Andre came in to see him. He needs those and he won't continue to refill them if he stops. Two, Andre wants to be CEO and Lucious is **not** going to do that if he can't keep his mind together and three because he's close to loosing it and I can't let my son do that."

"He is fine."

"He is **NOT** fine!" The sternness in Cookie's voice startled her. "You two are married but I can tell he doesn't trust you."

"You don't know about our marriage."

"Don't I? How come you didn't tell him that you almost bitch slapped Xandri in the conference room? Huh? Probably the same reason he didn't tell you about yesterday."

"We have a solid marriage."

"Well then you tell me if you're such an awesome wife in your solid marriage, why haven't you taken him to see a psychotherapist? Huh?"

"Because he doesn't like to go."

"It doesn't matter if he likes to go or not. Do you know what happened yesterday? My son was in the fetal position on the floor of his office, grunting and beating the floor like a damn irritated gorilla! You can't tell me that there **isn't** a problem there. And when a person starts talking about contemplating suicide or trying it out there **is** a problem, they need to speak to someone!"

"Andre's never talked about suicide before! _You're_ the one that's crazy, making accusations like that."

"Oh it's not an accusation Rhonda and I sure as hell am not making it up. I heard it from his own lips." Rhonda's mouth dropped open in speechless horror. "See how he doesn't trust you? Husbands and wives are **supposed** to tell each other _**everything**_. He's not telling you shit because he doesn't trust you to help him." Cookie watched her daughter-in-law shake her head in disbelief. "Don't shake your head at me. It's true. I sat in his office yesterday while he told me how many times he's contemplated suicide." The shock and fear she'd felt while Andre talked was coming back. Cookie was shaking and tears came to her eyes. "It's almost as scary as the many times he's attempted it."

"You're lying!" Cookie threw up her hands in frustration.

"_**Why would I lie Rhonda?!**_ Why would I lie? I have absolutely **nothing** to gain by telling you a lie. Did you know about two months ago that he was sitting in a dark room in that giant house of yours with a _gun_ playing Russian Roulette? Huh?"

"Lies. There is no gun in our house."

"Oh yea there is and if it had worked, you'd be a rich young widow. He put one in the chamber, spun it and closed it. The gun is a six-shooter. And Andre, my son- your husband, pulled the trigger six times. **SIX DAMN TIMES** and the gun didn't go off. You know what he did? Andre took it to a gunsmith who said all it needed was cleaning. So they cleaned it and he attempted it **AGAIN!** The second time the trigger jammed." Cookie's tears were streaming down her cheeks.

"See? He gave up since he figured it didn't work."

"**NO,** he didn't; he just gave up on using the damn gun. Do you know how many times he's thought about going into a New York subway tunnel and jumping onto the tracks? Or going to a beach at high tide and walking into the water, resisting the urge to swim, not caring where his body would end up or who would find him? Or how about the many times he has thought about going to the roof of this building, yes this Empire building and jumping off the roof? He said every time he goes up there to do it the door won't open. What do you understand about your husband? My son was not just talking about **committing** suicide, he has _**actually attempted it!**_ As a wife how in the **hell** did you miss that?!"

"What do you want me to say Cookie?! He's never talked about it with me so how am I supposed to know?"

"See that's the problem. It's called **communication**, Rhonda. You **TALK** to each other. You wonder why you're so upset with Xandri? It's because he trusts her, enough to talk to her. She listens to him when you won't."

"_**Why**_ are you mentioning that home wrecker's name?"

"Girl are you listening to _anything_ I've said to you? She's clearly **not** the home wrecker Rhonda, you are! You're wrecking your own damn home!" Rhonda got up to leave.

"This is ridiculous and I don't have to listen to this!"

"You're damn right it is and you do have to listen but we're not done yet."

"Oh yes we are."

"No we are not. Sit down. **Now**." As Rhonda sat Cookie took a second to blow her nose and compose herself. She picked up a folder from her desk. It was the full packet from the facility there were considering. She handed it to her.

"What is this?"

"This is the information from the facility Xandri recommended." Rhonda tried to dismiss that name.

"How does she know anything about this place?"

"Because her uncles and her brother have been patients there. They even have a special intake process for famous or well do to people. They have strict guidelines, great programs. Even Dr. Morell approved of the facility."

"So why are you giving me this?"

"So you'll know what to expect after the IPO is done. Andre has agreed that he needs go and is on board, Lucious and I are on board. The only person who needs to get on board is you. If Andre decides that he wants another facility they even gave us a list of highly recommended alternatives."

"I'm not checking him in."

"As long as Andre is of sound mind you won't have to; he can check himself in. This is just in case he isn't. We all need to be on one accord about his mental health." Rhonda rolled her eyes. She didn't want to hear any of this. Andre just needed to take his meds and stay on them. "Take it home and talk to him about it. If you want him to overcome this disorder, and have a real chance of becoming and _remaining_ Empire's CEO then you have to be a part of support system. If you can't do that then maybe you shouldn't be married. And I'm so serious about that." Rhonda just looked at Cookie, stood up and walked out.

Andre was sitting in one of their sitting rooms, having a large mug of hot chocolate. Dr. Morell cautioned him against drinking alcohol for the first few weeks of being reintroduced to his full regime of medications. He had selected some nice old school r&amp;b music to relax and listen to. Nothing from the playlist he shared with Xandri though. His feet were propped up on the ottoman of the comfortable chair. The music wasn't loud enough to disturb the neighbors but loud enough that he didn't hear his wife come in. Rhonda walked into the room and stood in front of him. He hadn't noticed. She was beyond irritated with him. He was masturbating to some dream about Xandri, he didn't tell her about his episodes or his suicides attempts. All of that she learned from her ghetto, loud and gloating mother-in-law. **And** on top of that he was deciding to check himself into a mental health facility without discussing it with her first. She picked up the stereo remote and turned off the music. Andre opened his eyes.

"Hey baby. I didn't hear you come in. How was you day?" He asked. Her anger and frustration hit their boiling point. She couldn't control her actions and before she knew it her right hand abandoned it's position by her side and slapped her husband's left cheek as hard it could. Shock and confusion covered Andre's face as he felt his stinging cheek. And before he could say anything, she said:

"**Andre. What. The. Hell?"**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** See intro.

**Warning:** See intro.

**A/N:** Thanks for all the reviews and new follows. So they've started filming season 2. I know you're as excited as I am. Can't wait to see what happens! I'm sure lots of twists and turns in store. Lots of twists and turns for this story as well. This chapter might seem kinda short (a bit of a transition chapter) and I really wanted to make this a two-fer (publish two chapters at once) but Chapter 7 is taking it's time. But don't worry it's coming! Thanks for coming along for the ride. As always read, review and recommend.

Chapter 6

The look of shock on Andre's face was almost enough to scare Rhonda. Almost. He quickly stood up causing her to step back.

"**'What the hell?**' What was that slap for?!"

"For all the lies Andre!"

"Lies? What lies?"

"For starters, you _tell _me there's absolutely nothing going on between you and Xandri..._'We're just friends Rhonda'_..._'She's just my ex Rhonda'_... yet I catch you _**jerking off**_ and calling **her name** in the middle of a sex dream!"

"_**There's nothing going on between us!**_" He yelled. "We are just friends. How many times to I have to _**tell**_ you that?!"

"I don't know; it hasn't been enough so far. And how am I supposed to believe you when the two of you are so _buddy-buddy_? Huh? Calling your phone like she has wife privileges."

"What? How do you know she called my phone?"

"You don't get to ask how I know;** I just do**."

"Rhonda, what did you do? I called her a few days ago because I was having issues and **you** weren't here when I needed to talk to someone. But you decided to take matters into your own hands and manipulate her phone call? She was trying to check up on me."

"She's not your wife; **I am**. She doesn't _**have**_ a reason to check up on you. You don't have anything to share with her. You _**should**_ be sharing with me!"

"Yeah, coulda woulda shoulda Rhonda. I share with Xandri when you refuse to communicate and listen." Rhonda scoffed at those words.

"_**I refuse to communicate?!**_ I **refuse** to communicate? How about **you**? _**You**_ are the one refusing to communicate _with_ me! You had an episode in the office yesterday and you didn't even _**tell**_ _**me?!**_"

"I _tried_ to tell you Rhonda."

"Bullshit you tried to tell me Andre! When did you try?"

"Last night before you headed out to your 'little surprise fashion show'. I told you I wasn't feeling well yesterday morning."

"You didn't have a fever."

"**And** I was _trying_ to tell _you _that it _wasn't_ a fever but an episode. But you were so engrossed with your phone and waiting for Sarah to call you that you didn't even give me a chance."

"Well why didn't you bring it up at breakfast?"

"Why didn't you? Besides you didn't seem to be in a talking mood this morning."

"Damn right I wasn't…listening to you moan some other woman's name, waking me up in the middle of the night. Then, you had an appointment with Dr. Morell today that I didn't even _know_ about."

"To be fair I didn't know about that either! My mother blocked off time in our schedules and I didn't know where we were going until we had already left."

"Oh so your mother can get you to see the doctor but I can't?"

"I just **told** you, I didn't know I was going until we were on the way. What do you want me to say Rhonda? She cares enough about me to see me through this. Can you say the same?"

"_**Are you questioning my loyalty to you?**_"

"Yes." Rhonda threw her hands up in frustration.

"Oh. my. **GOD!** I can **NOT** believe you just said that!"

"What do you want me to say Rhonda? That I completely trust you? Because I don't. And you know I don't." The expression on her face was somewhere between shock and hurt. "You're surprised at this revelation? We live the life we live and **you're** _surprised_?"

"Yes." she replied.

"You shouldn't be. As much as we've planned, schemed and lied to get things done, you're surprised?"

"That's business Andre. **Business**. I'm talking about us. **We** are supposed to trust each other."

"Well, do you totally trust me?"

"Before talking with your mother today and hearing you last night, I would have said without a doubt I trusted you wholeheartedly. Now, I'm not so sure."

"Well, there ya go." He replied as he was preparing to leave. He was tired of the conversation already.

"But maybe I should, keep trusting you. It might be the only way I find out what I'm supposed to know since you never tell me _anything_."

"Again, **Rhonda**, if I thought it would help talking to you I would. You think it's just as simple as taking medication. It's not. It's more than just talking to some shrink. I need my family's support, I've _always_ needed it; that includes you. It seems like everyone's just now coming around."

"Oh so now you tell them everything?"

"I told them more yesterday than I ever have."

"Including the suicide attempts?" Andre placed his hands on his sides and hung his head. "I told your loud ass ghetto mother tha-"

"Hey, hey...Watch how you talk about her."

"What? It's the truth."

"She's **still** my mother. You don't hear me bashing the woman who gave birth to you."

"Anyway, I told her that she was _lying_ and _you_ would have told me about any suicide attempts. Then she precedes to tell me that there have been more than **one**, more than a _**few**_ suicide attempts! Did you forget to tell me something? Aren't we _supposed_ to talk about this?"

"You are not the easiest person to talk to Rhonda, okay? You're my wife but you don't like to talk about this disease, on my terms." Andre started to walk away from her but Rhonda grabbed his arm.

"A gun? You have a gun **in this house**. You tried to commit suicide **in this house?** The house **we** share?"

"Yes, I did. And the gun wasn't the first attempt."

"I know. She told me about the roof, you going to the subway or the beach. Is SHE the cause of all this? All these attempts _after_ she's been released from prison? Because if she is I'm sure we can find a way for her to go back."

"**NO**, she is **not** my stressor. See, you don't pay attention to me at all do you? I bet you don't even remember two years ago when you found me floating in the pool." Rhonda's brow furrowed as she tried to remember. "I had taken so many drugs and chased them with alcohol, I was hoping to fall out of that floating lounge chair to drown in the bottom of the pool! That's how **hope-less** I was!" His wife looked at him in shock.

"What?! Two years ago? Why didn't you say something?"

"What is there for me to say when you _won't see it Rhonda_? I have been _**crying**_ out for help and everything else for the longest time. We've been together ten years and you are just _now_ noticing I have serious problems?"

"Serious enough to check yourself in? Were you gonna tell me about that?"

"Yes and yes. There is nothing wrong with me going in."

"If you could just stay on your medication you wouldn't need to go." Andre was very frustrated with his wife now.

"**ARGH!** Rhonda why are you _**not listening to me?!**_ I need _**help**_ staying on my meds. I'm telling you _**I need help**_ and after the IPO is done I'm checking myself in."

"And all this was Xandri's idea, right?"

"The facility, yes. Me going, no. She thinks it would be a good idea, my parents think it's a good idea and **I** think it's a good idea. And I don't need your permission to go."

"Why go now?"

"Did you forget my father is dying? He has to leave the company in someone's capable hands. I want those hands to be mine and they won't be if I can't get this disorder under control."

"I can come up with a plan to get you the CEO position I just need some tim-"

"**NO**. I don't want some plan or scheme to get the position. I want to have my wits about me and do this the right way. If you can't or don't want to support me, then say so. I need to know who I can count on and who I need to let go." She was taken aback by those words.

"Let go? Let _me_ go? I'm your_ wife_; you can't just let me go. Or did you forget that?"

"Then act like my wife; you need to get on board, because as soon as the IPO is done, I'm checking myself in. I have to go before my dad dies." He picked up his mug of now chilled cocoa and left the room.

Rhonda watched her husband walk out. She couldn't believe the conversation they just had. Had she really **not** been paying attention to their marriage? She thought she was. Was her mother-in-law correct? Was _she_ actually to blame for their problems and **not** Xandri? No, make no mistake about it: Xandri **was** a problem. One she hadn't quite figured out how to handle just yet. Rhonda needed to get her away from Andre. And more importantly keep her away. That was going to be a difficult thing to do. She began to pace and go into battle mode.

"That bitch doesn't need to be _**anywhere**_ near my man. I need to find a way to shut her down." Rhonda thought for a minute. What could she do? _Slander Xandri in some way that Andre would be disgusted by her and leave her alone?_ "Shit, it'd have to be something big. She's damn near perfect in his eyes." _Maybe put __**Andre**__ in an unflattering light?_ But how could she do that when he was already bi-polar? Most people would have run by then but not her, not Xandri. "She must have some crazy rescue complex! Running into the burning building instead of running from it." She stopped pacing suddenly as inspiration hit her. Rhonda pulled a phone out of her purse and dialed a number. There was an answer after the third ring.

"Hey...it's Texas Snowflake is Sly or Jay available?...Cool, may I speak to Sly?..." Rhonda walked to the corner of the room to make sure she couldn't be heard by Andre. "Hey Sly, it's Texas Snowflake, how are you?...Good, good. I'm good but I have a little problem. I have a job for you. I need you to do a SWOT analysis on Alexandria Carolina Bishop. She's the CEO of BoMo Enterprises. That stands for 'Bishop's Own Management Company'...I know, real unique name….Yeah...I need to know everything about her businesses- search the BBB, health department, business review sites, disgruntled former employees, whatever you can find. Then comb through her personal life. I want to know everything- every single ex, high school problems, family issues. **Everything**….yeah...you leave it on my desk with our special mark on the envelope… How much?... Okay, I can do that. Down payment left in the usual place? Good. I'm looking forward to what you can find. Don't disappoint me; I have a **lot** riding on this." Rhonda put the phone back on silent and into her purse. She took a few minutes to gather herself trying to decide if she wanted to sleep next to her husband tonight. Then a smile come over her face just thinking about what was going to be in the envelope Sly was going to bring her.

"Xandri won't know what hit her! She'll be so done, she'll go away and I'll have my husband back, under my control, where he belongs."

**A/N2**: SWOT analysis (for those who don't know): a business term used to define the Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats of a company (could be done on the company itself, a competing company, or a company that might be acquired).


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** See intro.

**Warning:** See intro.

**A/N:** I wanted to make this a two-fer but I've had so many new followers, reviews and like that I couldn't wait on chapter 8. But it's on the way! As always read, review and recommend. Enjoy!

Chapter 7

Cookie was a little anxious while waiting in Xandri's office. She was constantly checking her phone for any new texts or messages. Dry phone. Cookie's state of unrest found Garrett, Xandri's assistant, offering to check his boss's availability again.

"Oh no, I'm not in a rush," Cookie insisted. "There's just a lot on my mind." Garrett was kind of glad to see the mail carrier dropping off the day's mail. It gave him something else to do. While he was delivering the mail to the various offices, he poked his head into the conference room.

"Ms. Bishop, Ms. Lyon is still waiting to see you. Shall I have her make an appointment to come back?"

"Ms. Lyon?"

"Yes ma'am, Cookie Lyon. Didn't Stephanie tell you?"

"No she didn't." If Cookie was sitting in her office, then something must be wrong and Xandri needed to end her meeting as soon as possible. "Please tell her I'll be there shortly."

"Yes ma'am."

Fifteen minutes later, Xandri walked into the waiting area to see a very agitated and scared Cookie Lyon.

"Hi Cookie. I'm so sorry to keep you waiting but this meeting had been rescheduled three times already." She looked up from her phone to see Xandri.

"Oh don't be. Any other time I would have been glad to make an appointment. This is an unexpected visit."

"So I gathered. Is everything alright?"

"No. Can we talk?"

"Sure. My office is this way." Cookies gathered her things and followed her. Xandri extended a hand to the empty chairs in her conversation corner. "Please have a seat. Can I get you anything?"

"No, thank you." Xandri put everything she was holding on her desk then sat next to Cookie.

"You wouldn't come see me unless it was important. What's going on? Is it Andre?" Cookie took a deep breath.

"Yes; I wanted you to hear it from me before it hit the news, if it hits the news. Andre's been admitted." Xandri was shocked.

"What?! I thought he was going to wait until the IPO was signed? What happened?"

"He wanted to but it didn't happen that way."

"So he didn't commit himself?"

"No, let me tell you what went down Xandri. Do you know the name Billy Baretti?"

"I think I've heard of him."

"Well, he owns Creedmoor Entertainment. He's Empire's arch enemy. He also started Lucious's career. I found out Anika, Lucious's now ex-fiancee, was sleeping with him, feeding him information. Then he came after us, poaching our artists- as many as he could get. They tried everything, hacking into our computers, the security system, the elevators."

"The elevators? Who does that?!"

"I know right? Anyway, it scared us all and we all went into protect mode. That day just happened to the day Andre decided not to take his meds. But the way he was acting he might have gone a couple of days without them."

"Oh no!" Xandri groaned. "He promised me!"

"And he was doing so well! I could definitely tell the difference, but I guess I didn't spend that much time with him the days before to notice. When he found out what Baretti was doing, he went off the rails. Andre went and paid cash for an expensive car to give to an artist to make him stay. He had stacks and stacks of money, promises for anything and everything. Hell he might have had drugs on him, I don't know. In the end he just couldn't handle it. He was in the conference room with Lucious and lost it. Andre was yelling at his father and destroying the room. Someone called for help, but I don't know who." The few tears that flowed showed that everything still had a huge effect on Cookie. So Xandri reached out to hold her hands and keep them from shaking.

"My goodness."

"The next thing we all knew, they we trying to restrain him. They shot him up with something and he went limp. Tranquilized my baby like a damn animal and strapped him to a gurney. Lucious refused to sign the papers and pointed toward Rhonda. So she signed to have him committed into the clinic. And she wasn't ready to do that yet but she did."

"Holden C. Jones?" Cookie nodded. "Well, he's in one of the best places. I couldn't trust my family to anyone else." Xandri handed her some tissue from the box on the side table.

"I felt so helpless Xandri! I didn't know what to do. I was so scared; still am. My baby looked so hurt and innocent."

"I know it's not what any of you wanted but maybe somehow it's better this way. I can't even imagine what's going through his mind."

"We can't either. He's not talking much. Sometimes he's just staring into nothingness." Cookie continued to dab her eyes.

"That's part of the leveling out. They have to bring him way down and balance him out. Is he at least responding to your voices? Recognizing you?"

"I think so. He will look at us but that's about it. And his crazy daddy _**refuses**_ to see him. I could kick Lucious in his damn head! We all need to rally around Andre. I don't think he's ever been like this."

"I don't know why I thought Lucious would do something different, like the right thing and spend some time with his son at a low point. Some old dogs refuse to learn new tricks."

"You preaching to the choir now." Cookie dabbed her eyes again. "How does your mama deal with this and your brother? I'm so heartbroken!"

"She's had time to get used to it. Therron started showing bipolar symptoms in high school. But you never really get used to it because it's a little different every single time. I mean the treatment plans are basically the same, but the dosages change, the therapies change. You have to adapt the treatments to the symptoms."

"And they said something about music therapy. I'm not sure how it's gonna help him."

"We never know. We never knew my uncle was an artist until his art therapy. That's some of his work right there." She pointed to the series of small paintings behind Cookie's head. She turned to look. "He has so much art work he's running out of people to give it to. We finally got him set up in a gallery last year and it's been one of the best things for him."

"But Andre doesn't want to _sing_ for Empire, he wants to _run_ it."

"He does love music though. Andre is all business, math, and numbers; we know that. Maybe he needs to get in touch with his musical side. Perhaps it will help him view the company differently. Even view his brothers differently." Cookie sighed.

"I just don't know."

"Trust the plan Cookie. You've seen Andre in good and bad times; you'll know from that if something isn't working. _He'll_ know if it's not working."

"What's the best way to support him?"

"Be there. The Holden C. Jones clinic prides themselves on family privacy so I won't be able to see him unless he requests me in a session. And since Rhonda's name is on the commitment papers, I doubt that will happen. Talk to him. Keep reminding him that things will be better. Keep him abreast of company happenings; if he's worrying too much about how things are running without him, he won't feel comfortable going through his therapy. Especially if Empire is still headed towards the IPO."

"Good point."

"That's the best advice I can give."

"That's more than what I could have come up with."

"I hope I helped Cookie. I really hope I did." Cookie stood.

"You have helped me more than you know."

"Anytime, you need me please let me know. I'll do whatever I can."

"Thank you. Talking to you was a big help. I guess a little prayer every now and then wouldn't hurt either."

"I can do that too."

A few days later Xandri found herself in back to back meetings. Not her favorite thing to do. She was very grateful when a client called and asked to move a meeting back an hour. At least now Xandri could get some lunch. As she grabbed her lunch bag from the break room, Garrett came in to tell her that she has an unannounced visitor. She sighed.

"I just wanna eat lunch and check Facebook for an hour." she whined.

"I'm sorry but she just showed up."

"What's her name?"

"Rhonda Lyon." Xandri almost dropped her water bottle.

"Rhonda?"

"Yes. Is she any relation to the Lyon that came in the other day?"

"Rhonda is Cookie's daughter-in-law."

"Oh, you must be a good friend of the family."

"Eh, depends on who you ask." she replied as she walked toward the waiting area to find an unannounced Rhonda Lyon waiting patiently. "Hello, Rhonda." Rhonda looked up.

"Hello. I'm sorry to disturb you and...your lunch but I really need to talk to you."

"Sure, if you don't mind me eating. I've been in meetings all morning and the only reason I can eat now is that one meeting has been pushed back."

"This shouldn't take long."

"Then please follow me." and she led her to her office. Xandri closed the door behind them then sat at her desk. "Please have a seat Rhonda."

"Thank you." Rhonda replied as she sat.

"So how can I or BoMo be of assistance to you?" Rhonda cleared her throat.

"I wanted to let you know that Andre has been admitted into the Jones Clinic. Against his own wishes."

"I know."

"You know? How? It hasn't been in the news."

"Cookie came by to see me." Rhonda rolled her eyes.

"I see."

"How is Andre doing?"

"Well, you tell me. He claims to have seen you walking around in the lobby. I thought this clinic had a family only policy. It was a hard enough decision for me to admit my husband to a mental health facility for mental health issues without his _mistress_ breaking the rules, trying to seeing him behind mine and everyone's back." Xandri paused from opening her sandwich wrap and looked at Rhonda with confusion and laughed.

"Boy are you paranoid! Mistress? _Mistress?!_ Where did you get _**that**_ from? We've been over this before Rhonda. Andre is **your** husband; **I'm** just his friend. Besides, did you forget that I have a brother who has mental health issues? My brother has been readmitted to the Jones Clinic and I was visiting him, not Andre. I know the policy of the clinic. I knew the policy of that clinic before you knew the clinic existed. Both of my uncles were there before my brother."

"So you are not sleeping with my husband?"

"No, Rhonda I am not."

"Then how do you explain him calling out _**your**_ name and masturbating in a very heated sex dream? Any man that does that is clearly having an affair." Xandri gave Rhonda an annoyed look.

"Remember those are you words, not mine. I have no idea what you're talking about. We're not having an affair."

"I don't believe you."

"Sounds like a personal problem to me."

"I don't even know what Andre sees or ever saw in you." At this point Xandri was dreading inviting Rhonda into her office. The way this conversation was going she wasn't going to be able to eat lunch. And what she would be able to eat was probably going to give her indigestion.

"We are just friends Rhonda. That's how we started, that's how we ended. Did you really drive all the way over here to argue about this? If so, you wasted time and gas because there's nothing to argue about."

"No, I came to ask a couple of favors of you." Xandri almost choked on her water at those words.

"Excuse me?"

"I need a couple of favors from you. And seeing how I think my husband still has feelings for you, I think you owe me."

"Me _owe_ you? Me owe **you**..." Xandri quickly stood up behind her desk. "You're saying that **I** owe you favors based on what you think Andre _**may**_ or _**may not**_ feel for me? You come into **MY** office, accuse me of cheating with _**your**_ husband and you're asking **ME** for _**favors**_? Girl how about I come across this desk and slap you out of my office! What in the hell is wrong with you?!" Seeing Xandri's pending wrath secretly pleased Rhonda.

"Both of them are for Andre."

"Well Andre has my number. He can call and ask for these favors and _**you**_ can get the hell out of my office!" She exclaimed pointing to the door. Rhonda stood up.

"But you don't understand."

"No Rhonda, it's **you** who doesn't understand. I am so _tired_ of taking the blame for what's not going right in your marriage that it makes me **sick**. You married Andre, you are each other's responsibility."

"It's not that easy."

"**It is that easy!** You want to know the secret to getting along with Andre? Encourage him to communicate with you, not just talk, _actually communicate_. And when he's ready, listen to him. Don't let it go in one ear and out of the other, especially when it's something you're not interested in. **Listen to him**. You have to hear what he says _**and**_ what he doesn't say! It's in the tone of his voice, the phrases he uses, his hand gestures. Andre's body speaks _**volumes**_ when his voice can't. I can't believe after nearly ten years together you haven't learned to read his facial expressions yet! Encourage him Rhonda. **Encourage him**. You want to know the reason why he calls me? It's because I hear him." Xandri said as she pointed ears then to her heart. "I hear him; I always have. When his realities collide or separate or he has those days that he can't handle anything, you **have** to be there for him. Convince him that he can handle it, convince him that you will be right there by his side while he's going through it. You **can not** leave this man hanging! Do you get that?" Rhonda was shocked at Xandri's words.

"That's it? _**That's**_ what Andre has been holding onto all this time? Just simple encouragement?"

"Are you giving that to him? No, because he's getting that from me."

"Well, since you're so good at _encouraging_ and _convincing_ him, come to his next session and encourage him, _convince_ him to talk to me. To keep our marriage together."

"What makes you think me talking to him will lead to the two of you staying together? If he's changed his mind about your marriage, that's not any of my business."

"It is if you are the reason."

"**ME** be the reason? You're his wife, Rhonda. He's having a bipolar crisis; anything and everything is going through his mind right now. The medicines have their job to do and when they're done the two of you have to get to work. Communication is an important part of his therapy."

"Then you need to come see him." Xandri sighed in frustration.

"If he requests me and his therapist approves, then I will consider it."

"Good, I can tell the doctor that and let him decide."

"Is that it?"

"For now." Rhonda turned to leave, Xandri sat down in her chair, and then Ronda changed her mind. "One other thing."

"What now?" asked Xandri with her head in her hands.

"Since you're such an expert on our marriage, besides what you mentioned before, how can I keep my marriage together?"

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

"Well since you asked...You guys could use some space." Rhonda opened her mouth to protest but Xandri stopped her. "Before you say something, I didn't say take a relationship break, I said you guys need some space. Empire rules your lives. You guys work together all day, you spend all night together and I know you still talk business when you get home. You're surrounded by Empire from sun up to moon set. Have you thought about changing companies Rhonda? Or working in a different department, working less hours, starting a family? You guys need something other than Empire calling the shots in your life."

"We have a life outside of Empire."

"Really? Oh you mean your little sex clubs and parties?" Rhonda's cheeks flushed that someone else knew their secret. "Yeah, I know all about them and some of the business deals that developed because of them. Who do you think was encouraging Andre to stop going and spend more time with you? You're allowing too many factors into your marriage. So many that you're forgetting that your marriage is **yours**. Let some of the outside influences go. I'm not a threat to your marriage Rhonda and I never have been; your paranoia is. The paranoia wouldn't be there if you paid more attention to your husband. The more you're into each other, the more you'll _be_ into each other."

"Duly noted."

"I hope so. If Andre's doctor requests me, please have him call me. And unless Andre is dying, I'd rather not see you in my office again." Rhonda quietly opened the door and left the office. Xandri sighed deeply and reached for her purse to grab some Tylenol. Rhonda's unexpected visit had now given her a splitting headache and somehow squashed her appetite. And she still had four meetings left before she could go home and get rid of the day.


End file.
